Where Little Birds Play
by Aspect1
Summary: There in a garden plays the young birds. From the sky swoops in the hawks. A huge, shadowy figure is a backdrop in the sky. Who is the real hawk and who are the real little birds? The answers are all in the 56th Hunger Games.
1. Introduction

**A/N: Basically a re-post of Where Little Birds Play before it got deleted. The italics in the beginning are just the thoughts of someone :)**

**Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games! **

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_Lies. _

_That's what the Capitol feed districts citizens._

_Lies._

_All of them, lies._

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"Guys! Stop lazing around and help me out with this stupid preparation," a black haired female complained.

Her long hair was tied into a bun with a lock of hair left out on purpose to frame her face which accentuated the sharpness of her chin. She had chestnut brown eyes and was decked out in a formal black and white suit except she was wearing a black pencil skirt. This female is the Head Gamemaker for the 56th Hunger Games.

"What do you need help with, Aeris?" a blond haired male leaned over the railing and peered down.

They were in the apartment where they stayed and it was extremely grand. There was a pool outside and the interior's colour scheme was blue and silver. The seven different rooms each had their own decorations and a spiral staircase led to the second floor which led to the exit or entrance depending on how you look at it.

"Jan! Get your ass down here," Aeris insisted. "I need help with selecting the tributes for the Games."

"Oh, rigging the lottery. Well, what kind of tributes do you want?" January though more commonly known as plain "Jan" asked.

He walked down the stairs and sat beside Aeris on the white leather couch. Like her, he was dressed in a formal black and white suit. January had electric blue eyes that always seemed dreamy and distracted, only focusing when it came to Aeris . Aeris and January were married to each other but the way they acted made them seem as if they weren't even together.

"Ha, Aeris just wants your attention. After all, you have been ditching her to run after other females. How many have you raped?" a red headed female popped up from the other couch with a strawberry flavoured biscuit stick in her mouth.

"I do not rape! I make love passionately and sweetly and I have only ever touched Aeris," January protested.

"Yeah, yeah, say what you like," January's twin snorted.

"Cyrena, Janaury, shut up and help me with this!" Aeris seethed.

"No love for Aviorra?" a golden haired girl bounced up from the adjoining couch and scowled at Aeris. "Avi Avi wants to help!"

"Just..." Aeris groaned and buried her face in her hands. Why were her fellow colleagues so hard to cope with. January patted his wife on her back and she swatted his hand away. "Where are the twins?"

"Sleeping," Cyrena pointed to the final couch that was back facing them.

"I'm surprised that Edel and Weiss can actually fit on that ridiculously small couch," January said wryly.

"Avi sees that they pulled the bed under it out!" Aviorra happily announced.

"Aviorra, wake them up," Aeris commanded. It was time to get down to work.

"Edeeeeeeeeeel, Weeeeeeeeeeiss, wake up!" Everyone in the room covered their ears at Aviorra's high pitched squeal.

"We're up..." two voices chorused together followed by a snore from Weiss.

"Up!" Cyrena shouted and she and Janaury yanked the twins off the couch.

Two sleepy faced black headed people faced the rest and they rubbed their eyes in sync. "We're up," they said together once again.

"Getting down to work, I've only picked one tribute so far; Delphinium Agatha from District Four," Aeris informed her fellow Gamemakers.

"It's a pretty name," Aviorra said.

"Delphinium is another name for Larkspur," Cyrena told Aviorra. She turned to Aeris, "so? What makes him so special?"

"He's best friends with a former victor. Remember Azgaro Ice from two years ago? Yeah, Delphinium knows him pretty well and his sister is Daphne Agatha, the victor from four years ago. Delphinium's relations pricked my interest and so I've selected him to see how well he'll do in the Games."

"Are you sure? We wouldn't want the Games to be too one-sided," January said as he looked over Delphinium's statistics.

Aeris smirked. "That's the thing. I'm searching for tributes that are special. By special I mean that they can have a chronic illness to having good relations with former victors to being in the Games with their sibling."

"I see," Cyrena answered.

The other Gamemakers took a seat and Edel and Weiss after pushing in the bed, turned the couch they were sleeping on around and faced the others. Weiss stretched and placed his feet on the glass table.

"What's the theme?" he asked.

"Little birds play where there are no hawks. When the hawks come, they get eaten. You do know what this means right?" Aeris asked.

"Avi knows!" Aviorra exclaimed gleefully and hugged her teddy bear tightly.

The others gave their assent and Aeris relaxed against the couch. She took back Delphinium's statistics from January and shut off the hologram.

"Let's get cracking, I want special tributes. I don't care what your definition of special is, I just want them. Send your chosen ones to me and Edel will rig up the lottery."

"What about those that volunteer?" Weiss asked.

"Then we'll _make_ them special. You are dismissed."

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**A/N: And this concludes the first chapter. I'll post up the other chapters next Monday. On a happier note, I'm almost done with the Reapings. Yay.**


	2. District 7 Reaping

**A/N: So I changed my mind. **

**Enjoy rofl.**

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Edel was squatting on the rooftop of the District One Justice Building and she was watching a few Careers do some night training. Her attention was mainly on a girl with long mahogany hair and large eyes -she was unable to tell the colour because it was dark-. Edel stood up and tied her long hair into a ponytail.

"Gaius, do you remember when the reaping starts?" Edel asked, her Capitol accented voice so soft the wind nearly snatched it away.

The escort jumped and squeaked a little. He thought he saw Edel's lips quirk up a little but decided it was a figment of his imagination. That girl never smiled.

"T-tomorrow," Gaius stammered out and immediately hated himself for doing so because he now appeared weak.

"Correct," Edel's amber eyes were full of mirth. "Let's have dinner now."

"R-right," Gaius answered and followed her.

On the way down, he noticed her humming a song he had never heard before and he thought that her humming actually sounded quite nice and melodious. Her pale hands trailed down the mahogany banister and Gaius watched her fingers trace some patterns. He got the shock of his life when Edel suddenly turned to face him, her amber eyes shining with excitement.

"Brother is here!" she squealed and ran down the rest of the steps and jumped into her brother's arms.

Gaius watched their happy reunion with a soft smile on his face. They reminded him of his own sister and their closeness to each other. Gaius glanced out of the window and noticed the girl Edel was observing just now was looking in. He saw her smirk before turning away and going back to the other Careers she was training with. He frowned a little, had that girl no manners?

"Rian! Get your ass here!" Vanessa "Nessa" Sadfetes yelled and ran to her twin brother.

She grabbed his arm and quite literally pulled Adrian over to the line of people.

"N-Nessa, you're hurting me," Adrian whimpered.

Vanessa's face contorted with pain as if she felt Adrian's pain herself and released her hold on his hand.

"Oh gosh! I'm so sorry, Rian! I didn't mean to hurt you, I'm so sorry! Forgive me?" Vanessa pleaded.

Adrian cracked a small smile and nodded. The black haired girl beamed and both of them stopped in front of the Peacekeepers. After getting a blood sample from them, they went to stand in their own individual rows.

"Let's go and find a shady tree to rest under after the reaping," Vanessa whispered to her brother before they were separated. The grey eyed male nodded eagerly. Both of them trusted they would not be reaped.

Vanessa stood beside her best friend, Ana Treyted and she smiled at her though Vanessa could tell it was a nervous smile. None of them wanted to be reaped. Heck, no one wanted to be reaped. An old man hobbled his way up the stage and tapped the mike.

He cleared his throat several times before speaking and when he did, he had a big eerie grin on his face. Vanessa shuddered a little and took a good look at his eyes. They were _red_! _RED_! Who had red eyes? Vanessa screamed in her mind, slightly terrified.

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the reaping of the 56th Hunger Games! Without further ado, we shall get down to the reaping and we will start with the ladies!"

Julius inserted his right hand into the reaping glass ball and his hand searched around for the piece of paper that had a butterfly marking on it. He wondered who thought up this idiotic way of rigging the reaping and presumed it was Edel. That girl worked in weird ways. He finally found it and unrolled it.

"Our female tribute is..." he paused for dramatic effect. One could hear the imaginary drum roll. "Vanessa Sadfetes! Congratulations!"

Vanessa's POV

What? ...what? I got reaped? It's me? I'm the tribute. Oh my god. No, no, no, I don't want to be reaped. Someone volunteer for me! Someone!

I walked out of my row on shaky legs, praying to whichever divine person who was listening right now to have someone volunteer. No one. I reached the steps that looked more intimidating than usual. I somehow walked up the steps without tripping (for my legs were shaking so badly they were like jelly) and stood beside the escort.

He smiled toothily at me and I stared right into his red eyes. They suddenly looked demonic. And then it hit me for real. I just got reaped, no one volunteered and I am going into the Hunger Games. I am going to _die_.

I sniffled a little and held in my tears, adamant not to cry in front of this huge crowd of people. I hoped that my twin brother would not get reaped.

Adrian's POV

Nessa...sister...got reaped? No way! I refuse to believe it, I told myself but it was true. She was standing on the stage right now trying to hold in her tears; I could tell because she was scrunching up her face so hard. Reality had never felt like such a slap in the face. I glanced at our father and noticed how he was being comforted by his friend. I looked at Vanessa's best friend, Ana and I saw her crying.

"And now, our male tribute!" I watched the escort unroll a slip of paper that announced the death of someone. "My! How sad!" how sarcastic and happy he sounds. "Adrian Sadfetes."

Someone pushed me out of my row because I didn't move, couldn't move. I took a desperate glance around and my eyes settled on my father. He was crying and it was even more painful than usual. The square was dead quiet except for his cries.

I sucked in a deep breath and walked to stage on steady legs but I almost collapsed when I finally reached it.

"Ri-Rian," my sister whispered.

"N-Nessa," I whispered back.

I noticed how the escort cast us an annoyed glance; probably because we were whispering and he hustled us off the stage. As we walked into the Justice building, I saw a blond haired male whose eyes were electric blue and he wore silver earrings that actually looked quite nice on him. His eyes were cold and hard and they were fixed on both of us. Nessa's grip on my hand tightened even more when she noticed him and I noted how tense she was. Truthfully, I was frightened as well. The male looked absolutely terrifying and the shock of being reaped still had yet to wear off. Then I realized one thing.

How can I survive the arena? Will I be able to murder my sister in cold blood?

I couldn't help but look at the male once more and notice his satisfied smirk. He walked off and into the train waiting to send us to the Capitol.

Vanessa's POV

As soon as we reached the Justice Building, Adrian and I were thrown into different rooms.

"Three minutes," the harsh tone of a Peacekeeper reached my ears.

"Nessa!" My father burst into the room. The door closed with a loud bang.

"Daddy!" We both hugged each other tightly and he placed something into my hand when we separated.

"Nessa, remember, Daddy will always love you and your brother. Do your best to win," my father told me, his words coming out in a jumble because of the time constrain.

I nodded. "I will! I love you, Daddy."

He smiled and I realized that his eyes were and puffy from crying.

"I love you too, Nessa."

He kissed me on the forehead and then the Peacekeepers came in and dragged him out. It didn't even feel like three minutes. I opened my hand and looked at what he gave me. It was a necklace that had an antique looking heart pendant that was broken into half. Nothing was written on it but I recognized it. My mother and father used to wear this necklace.

Adrian's POV

I promised Daddy that I would come out alive and I wouldn't cry but I still cried after he left. I also knew that I would die. I didn't want to die! But I wanted to let my sister live. I curled up into a ball in a corner and sobbed myself dry. The necklace Daddy had given me was around my neck.

The Peacekeepers came in then and they had to yank me by the cuff of my pale blue shirt to get me to the train. I saw my sister in her green top and brown skirt then. Her eyes were red and puffy as well. I wondered if she had met Ana.

We were both pushed into the train as the doors closed behind us, I looked at her.

"Nessa...let's win this together," I told her. My voice broke at the end. One of us would have to die but we would always be with each other in spirit.

"Let's," Nessa confirmed and she gripped my hand tightly.


	3. District 9 Reaping

A skinny, tanned male went flying and bowled down his other accomplices. He scowled and jumped back onto his feet, wobbling slightly. He wiped away the blood dripping from his nose and yelled, "You bitch! I'll tell my parents and you'll see what they can do!"

"Ha! Tell that to someone who cares," Sapphire "Fire" Skyfort mocked.

She turned around and dragged her younger twin off. Their friend Marcus rushed forward when he saw mud stains on Sapphire's bright orange dress.

"Fire! How could you dirty your dress like that?" he chided.

"It's not like I wanted to," Sapphire defended herself. "Those jerks were bullying Turk again!"

"I-it'll be all right so..." Turquoise murmured as he gripped Sapphire's hand tightly.

"No it won't," Sapphire scowled and wondered how she could clean off the mud on her dress. She absolutely hated getting dirty.

Marcus sighed and flitted his hands about daintily as he talked. "In any case, we have to get in line now."

Sapphire and Turquoise reluctantly obeyed and they got separated. Sapphire gave Turquoise a comforting smile and he smiled back. The twins looked at their mother who was trembling in fright. Yes, this was still the reaping no matter what and they stood a chance of getting picked.

After a while of waiting, a light green skinned male hopped onto the stage and he grinned broadly at the crowd. He chattered away excitedly and the words came pouring out in a torrent. The male laughed girlishly when he realized that no one could understand him and cleared his throat.

"Welcome to the reaping of the 56th Hunger Games! I'm Scaevola Tati! I'm sure you are all trembling in your shoes in anticipation for the tributes! Don't worry, because you'll still die!" the male giggled and his hand dived into the glass ball.

"Ladies first," he announced and picked out a slip of paper. "I'm so excited! Is anyone?" his answer was silence.

"My, what a unique name! Sapphire Skyfort! Come up here, Sapphire Skyfort," Scaevola trilled, he bounced up and down in excitement and his eyes located the blond girl who was inching forward. He frowned, his patience running out. "Hurry up!"

Sapphire's POV

_Sapphire Skyfort, Sapphire Skyfort, __**Sapphire Skyfort**_. My heart stopped beating for a moment and I couldn't move until someone pushed me out. I walked forward mechanically while my brain tried to process that I got reaped. My right foot took one step onto the stairs leading to the stage. My left foot planted itself on the next and my right on the third and final step.

Scaevola hurried me forward and nearly pulled my arm out of its socket in the process of yanking me to his side. He patted my head gently.

"Don't be so afraid!"

Don't sound so sarcastic.

I searched for my brother and found him quivering. I tried to mouth some words of comfort to him but my lips could barely move. I looked at Scaevola and noticed the fleeting look of pity. It was replaced with a sadistic grin and fright took hold of me.

"Sapphire, would you call out the name of the male tribute I have picked?" he asked sweetly, handing me the unrolled slip of paper.

I take it and looked carefully at it. ...what? No, no, no! This was not real! This is not real! This...this...can't be!

"Come on!" Scaevola snapped.

I swallowed and tiptoed. My hands gripped the piece of paper tightly and I choked out, "T-T-Turquoise Skyfort."

I crumbled.

Turquoise's POV

"T-T-Turquoise Skyfort."

I continued standing. I didn't move. I couldn't move. Someone pushed me out from my position and I fell onto the ground. Someone picked me up and familiar hands gently guided me to the stage. Another person thanked the person who led me to the stage and I got pulled to the stranger's side. I couldn't see anything because my eyes were closed. I didn't want to face it.

Soft sobs and sniffles pierced my cloud of self denial and I opened my eyes. Sapphire was crying but she was trying to control it. Her face was scrunched up with the effort of trying not to cry but the tears were still leaking out from the corner of her eyes.

Murmurs of dissension were heard among the adults as they shifted uncomfortably. No one liked it when siblings were reaped and we were pretty much well-known for being extremely close and dependant on each other. Some snickering were heard from the kids who bullied us and I felt anger. How would they like it if they were up here on stage with their sibling?

"Oh stop crying. Now let's go," the escort pushed us towards the waiting train.

"Wait! Don't we get to say goodbye to our family?" I asked.

It was a bit interesting actually. Usually Sapphire would be the one protesting and fighting all the way and I would be the one snivelling away but our roles were switched this time.

"No time!" Scaevola continued shoving us towards the train.

I saw my sister lift up her head and she pushed Scaevola back. She shot him a glare and stood tall. Her eyes were red and puffy but she gave off an air of defiance.

"Let them, the other districts can wait," someone sighed from behind us. I heard footsteps disappear into I presume the train because the clicking of high heels became much softer.

"Cy-Cyrena," it was interesting to see Scaevola pale.

"Fire! Turk!" our mother rushed forward and pulled both of us into a tight hug.

We returned her hug and we stayed there for a while. We pulled apart and we both noticed Marcus. He smiled sadly at us and mouthed "I'm sorry" to me. I realized then it was he who guided me to the stage. I shook my head and gave him a small smile to tell him it was all right.

"Take this, your father would be happy to see you two wear it," our mother gave Sapphire a turquoise coloured earring and me a red earring. She sniffled and then started bawling.

"Time's up! Get in now," Scaevola started hustling us into the train and my eyes pricked with tears.

We barely got to say goodbye!

"B-" I couldn't say it. To say goodbye was to say goodbye forever. I glanced at Sapphire and I could tell she had the same dilemma.

"I love you," our mother said.

"We love you too," we replied, hands stretching out to just hold her hand for the final time before we were sent away.

We never got the chance because we were shoved into the train and the door slammed shut. The train started to move. Both Sapphire and me ran to the window and we somehow succeeded in prying the window open.

"Marcus! Goodbye!"

"Bye, I'll...see you again," Marcus's voice broke at the end and he hastily wiped away his tears but they kept coming.

Scaevola slammed down the window then and gave both of us a stern look before stalking off into another carriage. The carriage we were in was too quiet. Even the train engine couldn't be heard.

"Fire...we...we..." I trailed off, unsure how to continue. "What can we do?"

"We live," she said softly, gripping my hand tightly. "We live and come back together. It doesn't matter if we die because we will always be with each other. Marcus can take care of mother."

We both knew that we both wanted to live to take care of mother but right now, we had to stay alive. I wiped away my remaining tears and felt a bit of confidence. One of us would have to die but we would always be...

"We are one," we murmured together, pressing our foreheads together.

We are twins, we will always be the other half of each other.


	4. District 2 Reaping

"You're incredible. Finding a tribute like that."

"Is that so?" Cyrena laughed lightly and flashed Janaury a smile. "Thanks!"

Cyrena took a seat beside Janaury and switched on the television. She pulled his sleeve to get back his attention.

"Aury, let's watch the District Two reaping."

"Yes, yes. Are you sure you should leave those two tributes from District Six alone in their carriage?"

Cyrena scowled and kicked his leg. "Don't talk to me that way when you ditched your own district the moment you saw me enter the train!"

Janaury laughed and returned his attention back to the television. On screen, the escort called out the name of the female tribute.

"Saffra Kilnam!"

Saffra's POV

I jolted when I heard my name being called. I immediately searched out Lily and I saw her start to raise her hand and her mouth was slowly opening. My eyes widened and I ran to her, pushing down her hand. I shook my head quickly. _No._

Lily started to protest but I let go of her and stumbled to the stage. The escort smiled at me and helped me up on the stage though the pull on my arm was painful. I stood on the stage and looked around, locking eyes with Lily. I gave her a small smile to comfort her but I was worried and surprised.

Why would the Capitol pick me? Did they rig it? If they did, then why pick someone with such a big disadvantage? I bit my lip as those thoughts ran through my mind and I lost interest in the male reaping. I wanted someone to answer my questions but who could?

I only got back to reality when someone grasped my hand and shook it gently. I looked at the person and came face to face with Elagabalus Avitus.

Oh. My. God.

Elagabalus's POV

I watched Saffra walk up on the stage and frowned when she tripped and no one bothered to help her. I sighed and waited for the male to be called out. Who would it be? Surely, it would be someone I knew. I can't imagine who could have the stealth to escape me! I frowned again but made sure to ease up on the furrowing of my eyebrows. Wrinkles were a no, no!

I looked over at Nero and saw how his hand was already raising. The male haven't even been called!

"Ba-Balus...I got reaped," my friend, Orion, whispered to me.

...what? I heard nothing about it! Come to think of it, I was probably too busy worrying about my wrinkles. Damn people distracting me!

"I vo-" Nero's sweet and angelic voice started.

"I volunteer as tribute!" I interrupted and gently pushed Orion out of the way. I highly doubt that Phoenix would like having her boyfriend's face being harmed.

I made my way to the stage and climbed up onto it. I noticed the awed and terrified faces of the people. How interesting. I turned around and faced the escort. Her name, Cassia was it? I wonder how old she is.

"Oh!" she exclaimed. Her small mouth formed an 'o' of surprise. I wondered why and looked down at myself. It must be because of the fact that I was wearing a skirt with leggings. "What's your name?"

"Elagabalus Avitus," I answered with a wink. "And yours?"

"C-Cassius Heartling," the yellow skinned woman answered. She turned to the crowd and spoke into the mike. "And here are our two brave tributes from District Two! Shake hands now!"

I looked at Saffra and waited for her to take my outstretched hand. She didn't. I ended up taking her hand and shook it gently. Right now, she looked like a small flower who was trembling in the might of the wind. She carried an air of bravery and strength however. I remembered how she was always alone with that friend of hers. Perhaps one could liken Saffra to a purple heather flower.

Saffra's stunning green eyes finally met mine and her slight jaw drop was amusing. Her lips moved but nothing came out. I patted her head and then the Peacekeepers started moving us into the Justice Building.

Saffra's POV

I sat in an empty room and waited for my family and Lily to visit me. Meanwhile, I played with the hem of my forest green dress and thought about my district partner. Elagabalus or Balus as he rather he be called and his full name was quite a mouthful.

I didn't know if he was any good at fighting but from what Lily told me, his body was incredibly pretty and it was shaped nicely. ...that doesn't really help now that I think about it. The door opened then and my family along with Lily came in.

"Three minutes!" the Peacekeeper from outside yelled.

My dad is missing but I was used to it. He probably didn't even show up for the reaping.

"Saffra!" Sunny and Sal yelled as they ran right into me.

I embraced them tightly and they locked their arms around my waist. I looked at my mother and I can see her dabbing away at tears. She sniffled a little and joined in the hug. Lily stood near the door to give us some space and I smiled gratefully at her. She merely shook her head and signed to me that if I wanted to accomplish anything, my family and I had to stop hugging.

We separated and they stood in a semi circle facing me. My mother looked at Lily and Lily opened her right hand to reveal a small beaded bracelet. The beads were of different colour and they looked absolutely stunning under the light. I smiled and took the bracelet, wearing it on my right wrist. I noticed how her left wrist had the same bracelet.

I signed to my family that I love them and I will come back for sure. My teary-eyed mother nodded and told it to the twins. Sunny and Sal were still unable to understand sign language and my mother and I had promised them we would teach it to them once their memory was good enough. With me now being reaped for the Games, we might not even get the chance.

"Saffra, I-" Lily started to say but the door slammed open , interrupting her.

"Your time is up, out!" the Peacekeeper shouted gruffly. Two other Peacekeepers came in and they started to push my family and Lily out.

I caught Lily's eye and hurriedly signed to her, "Make sure my dad takes care of them. Please!"

She nodded and then the door slammed shut. The resounding bang echoed around the room. I stared at the wooden door. I stood up and walked over to it. I tried the door knob but someone had locked it from the outside.

The ensuing silence was suddenly so deafening.

Elagabalus's POV

"Oh Nero dearest, don't cry," I comforted the crying green eyed boy.

Nero looked up at me and wailed, "You just consigned yourself to your death!"

"Fear not for I will come back alive," I assured him and pulled him into a hug.

"Balus! Keep your hands to yourself!" my brother, Commodus, yelled, moving forward to pull Nero away from my hands.

"Two more minutes left," Orion intoned.

Phoenix laughed and turned to Calypso. "Aren't you going to give any strategy for Balus to survive, Mrs. Avitus?"

My mother smiled and shook her head. "I'm sure my son is smart enough to think those up by his own."

"Of course, mother," I replied.

"One minute and thirty more seconds. Keep safe," Orion said. He smiled and I returned it.

"Balus, w-would you accept this?" Nero asked shyly. His cheeks were such a wonderful red that suited him well. If only I saw that blush more often!

I looked at what Nero was offering me and realized it was his silver bracelet that had a violin charm attached to it. I gave him a gentle smile and took it. I wore the bracelet immediately and gave him yet another hug.

"Thank you," I whispered.

"O-oh, i-it's," Nero stammered and his hands started flying about which always happened whenever he became nervous.

"You never change," Commodus sighed.

Phoenix let out a peal of laughter and pried Nero away. She winked at me and pushed a lock of black hair out of her face. Oddly enough, it wasn't done in braids this time. I wondered dimly if it had anything to do with the reaping.

"Do your best to stay alive! I trust your stylist will have the fashion sense to dress you up well," she grinned.

"Time's up," Orion muttered and the door opened.

"All of you, out!" a Peacekeeper yelled.

"Bye bye," I waved my fingers daintily at them and they waved back.

My mother gave me a knowing look then walked off with Commodus behind her.

"Oh wait! I forgot something! Nero, wait!" I called out, jumping from my position on the bed and running to him.

"Bal- mmppfff!"

Whatever Nero wanted to say was cut off by my big smooch on his lips. I licked his bottom lip then rose up again. Nero's face was bright red and he was spouting nonsense. I took a quick look at the Peacekeeper's face and felt smug when I saw his opened mouth. To his credit, he managed to regain his composure and hurriedly shove himself and Nero out of the room. Aw, I wanted to know Nero's reaction.

I laughed and thought to myself that I can find out when I came back alive. The door opened again and another Peacekeeper walked in. His gait was full of caution and I guessed he had caught wind of what happened.

"The train is here," he told me and then showed me the way out.

It was time to go to the Capitol and see what they have in stall for us.


	5. District 6 Reaping

**A/N: Yay! A new chapter, finally ;-;**

**Enjoy!**

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"What was that for!" a platinum blond haired girl yelled and wiped away the icing on her face.

"Revenge for just now!" crowed her older brother, Dante.

"Dante!" Linay who more commonly goes by Lin yelled again and picked up a cupcake.

She hurled it at Dante but he ducked and the cupcake hit the side of Handell's cheek. Handell's eyebrow twitched and he whirled around. He held a few papers that had a lot of figures written on them. Sadly for Handell, the papers had some icing on them and his mother, Emmi, was going to kill him later. Figuratively of course.

"Dante! Linay!" Handell snapped. He cast an accusing glance at Alec who was squatting down and petting one of their many cats they kept. "Alec, get them to change will you?"

Alec nodded and stood up, carrying the snow-white cat affectionately named Snow. It doesn't have anything to do with the President of Panem of course.

"Go and change now," his voice was soft and carried a slight accent unique to their district. "The reaping's in five minutes."

"Like you've changed!" shouted Linay as Dante began pushing her to the stairs leading to the second floor of the bakery.

"I have."

Linay frowned and studied Alec's clothing. Indeed, he had changed. He was wearing a white shirt and jeans.

"Lin, up," Dante sighed wearily from behind her and Linay sped up the stairs.

Their bakery-slash-house was a ten minute walk from the town square and while they could change fast, reaching the square in time was another question. Alec sighed and continued petting Snow, giving the cat a very sweet smile. The cat meowed but then let out a sudden of terror and scrabbled out of Alec's hands. The reason being was that Linay and Dante had crashed into the staircase landing.

"Let's go," Handell groaned and waited for his two younger siblings to catch up. He guessed that Linay and Dante probably raced down the stairs in an effort to see who was the fastest.

The four siblings set off and ran -though really, it was more of a race- to the town square. They still ended up late but were allowed to check in. Once they did, they shuffled off towards their respective rows except Handell who joined their parents. They saw their parents and the stern looks they gave them. The Scott siblings response was to give them sheepish smiles.

The escort for District Six bounced onto stage. He had long and shaggy white blond hair with light blue highlights and his skin was so ashen it was creepy. He beamed at the crowd and tapped the mike once, twice.

"Welcome to the 56th Hunger Games! Or is it the District Six reaping for the 56th Hunger Games?" he giggled. "In any case, I'm Aelius Appius! Let's do things traditionally and draw the ladies!"

Aelius's hand delved into the glass ball and he peered into it. It took a while but he finally found that idiotic slip of paper as he dubbed it in his mind. He unrolled it and cleared his throat before ecstatically saying, "Linay Scott!"

Linay's POV

"Linay Scott!"

You have got to be kidding me. I've never drawn tesserae, not even once and I was called? What the...

Then my eyes widened in realization as I started walking up to the stage. It was a competition and competitions were fun! I skipped the steps and just jumped straight up onto the stage. I straightened and stood beside Aelius. He grinned at me and then cast his hand into the male's reaping ball. The time he took to get a slip of paper was noticeably shorter and he finally came up with it. I frowned as I realized that the slip of paper had a butterfly marking on it but ignored it.

"What a tragedy," Aelius sighed. I could tell by his tone that something bad was going to happen. "Dante Scott."

I could feel the blood drain from my face.

Alec's POV

I looked over to where my brother was stepping out of his row. He looked happy. I knew it. Dante didn't realize how important this was. I swiftly got out from my row and raised my hand though it was pointless because everyone's eyes were on me.

"I volunteer."

Dante's POV

"Alec!" I shouted and ran up to him. "Why are you taking my place in this game?"

My brother's electric blue eyes clashed with my own and he replied, "This isn't a game."

"W-well, get up here would you? One of you, anyone!" Aelius shouted into the mike causing feedback.

Alec took my stunned moment as his escape and by the time I had the sense to get onto the stage, he was already standing beside Aelius. I clenched my fists as realization hit me.

Alec had willingly walked into his death because of me.

Alec's POV

The Peacekeepers led us into the Justice Building and Lin and I were split up. I sat inside an empty room and sighed. My thoughts wandered to the six cats my family kept (due to me) and wondered if I would be able to come back.

"Alec, would you take this as your token?" I was pulled back down to reality by Dante's voice.

I hadn't realized my family had come in. Well, part of them in the very least. I presumed father and Handell were visiting Lin. I looked at what Dante was offering me and recognized it as a friendship bracelet.

I took it and wore it on my right wrist.

"Thank you," I told him.

Dante grinned at me and then stepped aside for our mother. She came to me and I stood up. Emmi hugged me and I returned it.

"Come back," she told me, voice cracking at the end.

I nodded but didn't promise anything. The last thing I wanted was to break a promise I couldn't rectify to my mother. The door opened and the Peacekeepers shouted at them to move out. Dante and mother left and I saw my girlfriend, Amanda Theron and my best friend, Jesse Stronghold standing aside to allow my family space to walk. I gave them a half-hearted smile as they walked in.

Linay's POV

I stroked the small metal figure of a cat my father made for me when I was a baby. What was once a gift for a baby has become a token for the parting.

"I'll come back," I promised.

"Please," my dad answered. He suddenly looked very old.

I glanced at Handell and noticed how haggard he suddenly appeared to be. I bit my lip and felt the weight of the cat in one hand. The silence was suffocating. The Peacekeepers rapped on the door then and it opened. Their time was up. Tears welled up in my eyes as I realized that I would have to kill someone to get back alive and I was going into the Games with my brother. Words could not describe my horror.

"I love you!" I blurted out as they were leaving. Unfortunately, it came out as a jumbled mess of words.

There was no more time to say it again but the smile Handell gave me was able to set me at ease by a little bit. I saw Tristan come into the room and my eyes darted around. Thank God Misty didn't come along.

"So, any parting words?"

No one's POV

Alec met his sister when they were on the train. She smiled at him and ran to the sofa, flopping down onto it immediately. Alec sighed and watched the landscape slowly speed by them as the train accelerated.

"I can't kill you," he said.

"I know. I can't either," Lin answered, serious for once.

Is it the truth? I know you can kill me in a heartbeat or am I wrong?


	6. District 4 Reaping

**A/N: District 4's reaping! Enjoy!**

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_"What would you do if I told you that I'm going to be reaped this year?"_

_There was a rush of wind and leaves were shaken free from tree branches. The tree leaves landed gently on the lake behind them and they floated on it. The girl smiled gently at the young boy sitting in front of her and she reached forward and placed a wreath of daisies on his head._

Delphinium's POV

I woke from my dream with a gasp. I pushed myself up and tried to steady my breathing and gain back my composure. I stared at the beige-coloured wall across me and I finally remembered I was now seventeen years old and living in Victors Village. I wasn't ten years old with my childhood friend asking me that fateful question.

My door creaked open then and my little sister's head appeared around it. She pushed it open fully and regarded me with this very wise look.

"Did you have that dream again?" she asked softly.

I nodded and swung off my bed. Lily padded in and watched me take off my singlet and change to another one. I've been having that dream ever since my friend got reaped. She never came back. Instead, she went to the Capitol and I've never seen her since. She was the official winner for the 49th Hunger Games but there was something missing during that Games. No one knows what it is though and it's been more or less forgotten.

"Delphi, do you want to do some fishing? It's still quite early out," Lily asked me.

I looked at her hopeful and eager face and nodded. She beamed at me and ran back into her room to change. I sighed and ran my hand through my dark hair, messing it up. I tied up the curtain and looked at the dark sky. The sun had yet to rise.

Aeris's POV

Seven years ago, the 49th Hunger Games happened. In an effort to create even more hype for the second quarter quell and because it was the Games before the 50th, seven victors were allowed. However, to the people in the districts, there was only one official victor. No one really knows how the Capitol managed to convince the people in the districts that there was only one victor but it's the Capitol. They probably set it up beforehand.

There was a catch however, the seven victors were not allowed to return to their districts and they were banned from communicating with them. The seven victors were then forced to become Gamemakers and ever since then, all the arenas have been constructed by them. The Capitol changed the victors's appearances so that they would look different but truly, I believe that if any of their family members or close friends were to see them, they would be able to recognize them on the spot.

Or maybe it's just my own wishful thinking.

January's POV

As I watched the District Four reaping, I kept glancing over to my wife. She was lost in her own thoughts. It was evident because of how her eyes weren't focusing. I pulled her into my arms and decided to act like a husband for once. I murmured words to sooth her. I wasn't sure if it worked but she was slowly relaxing against my own taut body.

I am sure that this reaping must be hell for her. I glanced at her and frowned. Her lips were pressed into a thin line and her hands were miming the way one makes a flower wreath. It was too identical to how she kept herself sane after that Games I looked back to the screen and watched the male tribute, Delphinium Agatha walk up to the stage. His face was blank but his eyes were hard and they held the determination to win.

My eyes turned to the female, Heather Sea, and my lips turned down. I switched off the television and started to stroke Aeris's back. I sighed and closed my eyes, hoping to catch a wink though that seemed impossible with how incredibly messy my mind was at the moment.

**A few hours before**

Heather's POV

_"I love you."_

Shut up! I tossed a pebble into the lake and watched it fall into the lake with a plop.

_"I really love you."_

I growled and threw yet another pebble into the lake. It skimmed the surface this time.

_"I really, really love you. Do you love me?"_

I don't love you! I yelled in my mind and gathered up a bunch of pebbles and threw all of them into the lake. I winced as I pulled a muscle and realized I used too much force. Then I scowled and kicked some pebbles around with my bare feet.

_"I'm like a stone. I create ripples in your life."_

I let out a scream and fell to my knees. I squatted and covered my ears, frantically shaking my head. _You're gone, you're gone, you're gone,_ I muttered in my mind and screamed again. _Why did you have to leave me? You promised you'll always be there for me. You promised! And you left! And you never came back!_

I bit my lower lip in an effort to stop it from trembling and failed. I sniffled and then started to let out a loud wail. Trapped, that is what I am. Trapped.

"Are you all right?" a soft voice filled with concern asked me.

I looked up and came face to face with stunning dark green eyes. His hand was outstretched to me. I studied his face even more and noticed how his dark hair curled around his face. It reached up to his shoulders and it was tied into a ponytail at the nape of his neck. I brightened and started to take his hand...then I slapped it away as I finally came back to reality.

"You! Who are you?" I snarled, jumping up and taking a few steps back.

"Delphinium," the male answered. He drew back and I could tell he was analyzing me.

I glared at him and pointed an accusing finger at him. "How dare you look like someone I know!"

"Oh is that so? Tell me how that person looks like then," that look alike answered wryly.

"He has dark brown hair and bluish-green eyes with hazel specks in them..." I faltered. That description didn't fit Delphinium.

"My hair is dark, almost black and my eyes aren't bluish-green. They're only green," he pointed out.

"W-well!" I exclaimed then noticed a blond head poking out from behind him. "Who's that?"

"Introduce yourself first, stranger," Delphinium replied as the small little kid from behind him walked out and gave me a small smile.

"Heather. Heather Sea. You didn't tell me your last name!" I shouted, index finger pointing accusingly again.

"I'm Lily! Delphi's younger sister," that kid introduced. She didn't speak of her last name.

From afar, I heard my name being called. I gasped and whirled around.

"Bye!" I yelled and ran off in the north direction. The sun rose from the east so I could tell where north, east, south and west are pretty easily.

Delphinium's POV

"Did you hear her name?" I asked Lily.

She shook her head then dragged me to the lakeside. She let out a small gasp of horror and pointed at the partially submerged stones. There was blood on them. I looked at it carefully and noticed there was a trail. A rather big puddle was collected at where Heather once stood and there was a trail of blood leading off into the direction she ran. It came from her.

"Why was Heather bleeding?" Lily asked me, tugging my sleeve.

"I don't know," I shrugged and sat down, making sure to overturn the stones that had blood on them because my sister was scared of blood. I set up the fishing pole. "And I don't care."

**Present- Reaping**

Delphinium's POV

I made my way to the stage and stood beside the escort. She beamed at me and then took a step back.

"Shake hands!"

I held out my hand to Heather and she stared at it before grasping it and shaking it once firmly. The Peacekeepers came and started to move us towards the Justice Building. I caught Daphne's eye and she smiled at me, mouthing that Azgaro would visit me.

Heather's POV

I sat in a white room and played with my thumbs. I already knew I wouldn't have any visitors -my family having died several years ago in a fishing incident- so my only guests if you could call them that were the voices in my head...and my thumbs.

I ignored the chattering in my mind and focused on playing with my thumbs. It felt strangely fascinating. I wondered if I was going to die then I figured it may as well be for the best. My grandparents didn't care about me and everyone I ever cared about is all six feet under.

"Three minutes!" the Peacekeeper from outside yelled.

What?

The door opened and in stepped Daphne Agatha, Delphinium's older sister and victor of some Games I can't remember. She smiled gently at me and shut the door. It clicked close softly.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with Delphinium?" I asked, scooting all the way to the edge of the bed to create more distance between us. I didn't like the wise and knowing look in her eyes.

"Azgaro can take of him. I'm here because I thought it wouldn't be nice to leave a girl all alone," Daphne answered as she sat on the other end of the bed.

"Taking pity on this orphan?" I spat.

"Not pity, empathy. I know how it is to lose your parents. Do you have a token?" she asked me.

I shook my head and hands fisted around the hem of my bluish-white dress that my grandparents forced me into. I watched the victor reach into a jeans pocket and she took out a whistle shaped in a fish.

"Take this," she told me and unravelled the chain. It was a bracelet.

How interesting. A bracelet that has a whistle. She reached her hand out and waited for me to open up one of my hands. I did and she dropped the bracelet cum whistle into it. I drew back my hand almost immediately and wore the bracelet. It was a perfect fit. I cast her another suspicious look.

"Why?" the question spilled out from me before I knew it.

"Just because. Delphi doesn't know about your condition by the way," Daphne told me as she stood up and walked to the door.

"Is he living under a rock or something? I didn't know he was your younger brother," I added the last part as an afterthought.

Daphne laughed and turned the door knob. "He's living in a world that isn't part of the Games. ...or at least he used to. I'll see you on the train, Heather."

I watched her leave and the door shut behind her. I scowled and resisted the urge to throw her gift to me at the door. I kicked the floor and winced. I forgot I wasn't wearing shoes and I had cut my soles on the pebbles earlier.

Delphinium's POV

I stood beside Heather in the train. Azgaro and Daphne had gone into another carriage. I clutched my silver necklace from Lily tightly and prayed that I would be able to come back for Lily. I knew she was in safe hands because Azgaro's wife would be able to take care of her.

I glanced at Heather and leaned against the side of the train. I wore my token and looked at her bracelet. It looked vaguely familiar. It looked like something I've seen Daphne wear.

"So, want to play that romance angle for what's it worth?" I asked and added in a flirtatious wink for extra effect. Internally, I shuddered.

"As if," Heather snorted and she stalked over to the couch and fell onto it. "I still haven't forgiven you for looking like my...friend."

I wondered why she hesitated and I took a seat beside her. I switched on the television and pressed a random button on the remote controller. The channel switched to a replay of an announcement for the Games. I looked at the Head Gamemaker and the controller dropped onto the floor.

_Why...why is she alive?_

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**A/N: There won't be any romance and the other reapings from now on will be combined to speed things up. I will not be doing the reapings for District 10, 11 and 12, instead, they will be train rides.**


	7. District 1 and 3 Reapings

**A/N: We're nearing the entrance to the Capitol and the Games. I can't wait~! Also, I'll like to dedicate this chapter to XMistressChaosx for reviewing every chapter since I put this up :). I find this chapter quite fitting too since it has two of her characters in it. Thank you!**

**By the way, I'll be tweaking some of your character's pasts to match with the plot I have in mind. What that means, you'll all find out in time to come.**

**Enjoy!**

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"Ruby Whit!"

The crowd murmured and shifted a bit as a small girl of twelve years walked out from her row.

"I volunteer!" a girl shouted and she ran up to the stage before anyone could argue or fight with her for the spot.

Emerald's POV

I watched Ruby shuffle her way up to the stage and snorted. There is no way that kid could win nor did she deserve the honour of being in the Games.

"I volunteer!" I yelled, my hand up.

I ran and leaped onto the stage before anyone could interrupt me. I looked at the blue haired escort and he beamed at me.

"What is your name, dear?"

I shivered at the endearment but flashed him a confident smile. "Emerald Langley."

Octavian's POV

I watched the female tribute stand on stage. She looked so proud. My eyes followed Gaius's hand as he picked up a slip of paper that held the male's name.

"Octavian Amorous!"

Oh joy.

I sniffled a little and walked slowly to the stage. I blinked back tears and almost tripped over my legs. I looked around. Would anyone volunteer for me? No, of course not. I finally reached the stage and stood beside the escort.

"Any volunteers?" No one raised their hands. "Oh well. Congratulations to our two tributes from District One, Emerald Langley and Octavian Amorous!"

The District cheered -mostly for me I suppose- and they broke out in applause. I snivelled a bit more to add in some effect for a meek little boy while in actuality, I was triumphant. This is it. This is my chance to win the Games and show District One that I am not a weak child. I would use the Games to show my true colours.

Emerald's POV

"Come back," my boyfriend told me.

"I will," I said confidently.

Ned came forward and pinned up my bangs with my token; an emerald hairpin. He kissed me on the lips and I returned it.

"Em, come back 'kay?" Alysa said.

I laughed and waved the question off. "Of course I will. I've trained for this all my life."

"All of you, out!" the Peacekeepers from outside yelled and chased my family, Ned and Alysa out of the room.

"We'll host a celebration for you once you get back," my parents promised me before the door slammed shut.

I couldn't wait to get to the Games.

Octavian's POV

I wore the simple chain necklace I got from my younger brother, Onyx.

"I should have volunteered. I stand a better chance," Onyx said flatly.

Truthfully, he might actually be right. Onyx was big and buff despite only being twelve years old. He had the build of an ideal career and he could kill without a second's thought. But, I had my own tricks and if I played my cards right, I could win the Games.

"Perhaps so," I agreed. I considered it a minor achievement for not tripping over my words as I usually did.

"Oh, Octavian," my mother sighed.

She opened her arms and I went to hug her. She patted my back then let go of me. I turned my gaze to Obsidian, my father. His face was hard and his eyes stone cold as usual. He stared at me and I stared back then I broke it when the door opened.

The Peacekeeper made an 'out' motion. My mother hugged me once more and I watched my family leave. I flopped onto the bed and lay there until the same Peacekeeper from before came to collect me. It was time to head to the Capitol.

District 3

Techra's POV

"Techra Volt!"

Somebody kill me. Oh wait, I'm already going to die. I gulped and walked up to the stage. Frankly, I was very surprised that my legs could carry me to the stage. I was shaking so badly that it came as a total shock my legs hadn't became jelly...yet.

The escort -was the escort a male or female?- beamed at me. The escort clapped me on the back with so much force I almost fell off the stage. Okay, the escort was a male.

I watched his hand shuffle around slips of papers in the males's reaping ball and I played with the edge of my green shirt while I waited for the male to be called. Finally, the escort picked out one slip. He unrolled it and called out the name of someone who scared the heck out of me.

"Fickle Fletch."

Fickle's POV

My right leg took one step and my left leg another. I counted the number of steps I took to the stage and my final count was three hundred and sixty-two. Not in numbers, never in numbers. Numbers are...

"Congratulations to our tributes from District Three! Shake hands now!"

He interrupted my thinking process. _No._

"Numbers are! Numbers are! NUMBERS ARE!" I screamed and stamped my feet on the stage.

Techra's POV

"Numbers are?" I echoed. I shied away from his flailing hands as the Peacekeepers grabbed him and started bringing him to the Justice Building.

I saw Fickle beat the back of a Peacekeeper I think is named Damon with his fists. The escort placed his hand on my back then and whispered in my ear, "Come along now, dear."

I jumped and scurried into the Justice Building. His breath smelt heavily of wine and garlic. Not a nice combination, let me tell you that. I heard a female yell Fickle's name and I practically dived for the doors before it could close on me. Fickle Fletch freaked me out and for good reasons.

"Oh Techra..." my mother murmured as she embraced me.

"Mama," I whispered and she patted the top of my head.

She presented a silver necklace that had a lightning charm and urged me to take it. I did and my father helped me to wear it. He turned me around and placed his hands on my shoulders.

"Techra, survive," his tone was cold and it was really a command more than anything else but being his daughter for fourteen years paid off and I felt the concern beneath it.

"I will! I'll come back and we can live in Victors Village together!" I beamed at my parent and they smiled sadly at me.

We all knew I was going to die.

Fickle's POV

I was snuggled up to my mother Alice with my arms wrapped around her waist. The melody Alice and Lewis were humming was low and their voices were interlaced with each other.

"Fickle, do you want your token?" my friends asked together. They were twins.

I looked up and saw Jabberwocky and Chesire Cat offering a white rabbit to me. Their names were actually Laice and Edith respectively. I took the white rabbit and held it between my thumb and index finger. The cut paper was flimsy and it bent upwards when I blew it.

"Thank you, Laice, Edith," Alice thanked them with a warm smile.

"No problem, Mrs. Carroll! Mad Hatter, will you be coming back? Oh, I'm sure you will be coming back. Am I right or am I right?" Chesire Cat's grin was ever present and his hands were flying about as he talked.

"Fickle," I looked at my father. He approached me and patted my head though it was really my hat. "Come back."

I spoke a complete sentence for the first time that day. "I will. Queen will be there."

"All of you, out!" the Peacekeeper from outside yelled.

I watched my parents and the twins leave. Jabberwocky grinned at me and waved before bouncing out of the door. I stared at my token. I folded it and kept it in my shirt pocket.

"Mommy..."


	8. District 5 and 8 Reapings

**A/N: D5 and 8 reapings! A part of me died when I realized I forgot to save a chunk of the chariot rides I was writing. Luckily, it wasn't too big a part so saved! Or I would have gone into a cave and stayed there for a few days because of my stupidity. I don't like this book cover thing Dx.**

**Enjoy!**

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Storm's POV

"Storm Tunestrovia!"

"Storm!" my sister yelled.

I turned around and saw her trying to push past the Peacekeepers. I shook my head frantically, black hair flying about. I turned and ran to the stage before the Peacekeepers shot my sister.

"My, so eager to participate in the Hunger Games, eh?" the escort chuckled.

_No you dolt, I just want to keep my sister from being killed_. However, I just kept a stiff smile on my face on the outside instead of voicing my thoughts. It wouldn't do to have my goal of keeping Kellee alive ruined because of my carelessness.

"Shrike Lanius!" the man called out. I stared at the slip of paper he held. The black butterfly symbol spoke of omen for some reason.

Shrike's POV

I walked forward and noticed how everyone was shifting on their feet when they saw me. I ignored them and climbed the stairs. This should be interesting. I never dreamed I would be reaped but now that I am...I may as well make the most out of it.

"Congratulations to the tributes from District Five! Shake hands," our escort told us.

I locked eyes with Storm and none of us move. Her upper lip curled and I could tell that she was sneering at me. A few minutes ticked by before the escort pushed us into the Justice Building. No one in the square cheered at all though some might be secretly happy that I was reaped. I'm sure they'll have a pleasant surprise when they go home and see what I've done. ...it might not be too pleasant in their eyes though.

Storm's POV

My thumb rubbed against my token. It was a single star earring that was decorated with storm patterns.

"S-Storm," Kellee cried.

I looked at my mother who was crying as well. My father's eyes were red but he was obviously holding his tears, trying to be strong for mother. I bit my lip and my friend, Alexandria, pulled me into a hug.

"You have to come back," Alexandria hissed into my ear.

"I will," I answered, the lie slipping from my lips easily.

Truthfully, I had no idea but I would do my best to survive. I looked at Farrell and he took that as his cue to join in the hug. It became a group hug and then my sister joined in as well. We stayed that way for a short while; the three minutes were almost up. I never wanted to let go of them but I had to. I squeezed my eyes shut and bit my lip. The Games terrified me a little. I wished I could see into the future and see if I'll die or live. If I died, I could find out the cause and change it.

"Storm," it was my father.

I broke away from the group hug and walked over to him. He smiled at me and patted my head. That was probably the highest form of affection I would get from him. He was a stoic man, never showing his emotions so seeing his red eyes was so heartbreaking.

"I love you, please, come back," my mother hugged me tightly. Her voice broke at the end and the tears came again.

I didn't know whose sobs were louder, mine or hers. The door just had to slam open then and my family and friends were kicked out. I wanted to stop them but all that came out was a strangled cry of desperation. I wasted a few more minutes wallowing in self-pity but my resolve to win was strengthened even more and when I finally got out of my dark hole, I knew my eyes were hard with the determination to win.

_I will win._

Shrike's POV

I stared at my father and his outstretched hand. I looked at his face and even though it was blank as usual, his blue eyes held a shred of pride. I smirked. I knew it, Rufus was proud of me. I grasped his hand and he shook it once firmly. We let go.

"Do you have your token?" he asked.

"Yes," I showed him a feather.

"Is it from a shrike?" he guessed.

I nodded and grinned. "I got lucky when a feather fell off from the bird. It was impaling a lizard when I saw it."

Rufus nodded and we stood in silence. It was always like this, never speaking to each other, only working. I wasn't sure how much time passed but the door was thrown open soon enough and my father escorted out. I watched him go then looked down at my token and rubbed it very gently. I allowed myself a small smile.

I couldn't wait to win.

District 8

"Gabriella Prestan!" the escort called out and then giggled as she saw the sand-coloured hair girl calmly walk up to the stage.

Gabriella's POV

As I walked up to the stage, I kept wondering why I was reaped. I pursed my lips and suddenly remembered Leona volunteering for me two years ago. Leona. She was my best friend until she...died for me. I blinked back tears as I stood on the stage. No, I would not cry here. As I faced the crowd, I silently swore to myself that I will win the Games no matter how many times the Gamemakers tried to kill me. Deep down, there was this nagging suspicion that the reaping was rigged.

I watched the escort (I forgot her name already) dip her hand into the male's reaping ball and pull out a slip of paper. She unfolded it then read out, "Olefin Cruor!"

Hey, isn't that the head Peacekeeper's son?

Olefin's POV

I think my mouth is opened.

"Hey, fat ass, hurry and get moving." I got pushed to the ground from behind.

I winced in pain and looked up at the pusher. The person was Weald. Oh him, the person who always bullies me. I swallowed and picked myself up. Can I...would I... will I be able to survive? I asked myself as I got nearer and nearer to the stage. I took the first step up and grinned to myself as a revelation hit me. I can finally get away from these chains binding me to my parents and do something productive in my life. Who knows, I might even be able to spark a rebellion!

I shook hands with Gabriella and then we were guided into the Justice Building.

Gabriella's POV

"Gabi!" my younger sister, Skylar, screamed and she tackled me to the floor in a hug.

I felt my lips twist up into a barely-there smile and I looked around. My entire family was there. Skylar scrambled off me and Jay, my older brother, lent me a hand. He pulled me up and I dusted dust off my plain white dress. I blinked in surprise when Skylar thrust a sky blue ribbon into my face. I smiled at her and took the ribbon. She beamed.

"Oh Gabi," my mother murmured and pulled me into a hug. My father joined in as well.

My four siblings gathered around me and together, we shared a familial hug. We stayed that way. We didn't need to communicate at all. I already knew that they wanted me to stay safe, wanted me to come back and I will. I'll avenge Leona's death in the arena by winning the Games and then I'll let my family live a good life in Victors Village.

They were forced to leave after that because the three minutes were up and they left me all alone. I played with the ribbon and then used it to tie up my long hair. It was time to show the Capitol people and other tributes what I'm made of.

Olefin's POV

"Oh Olefin," my mother sighed. "Try to come back all right?"

I think you rather have me dead. I looked at my father and he stares back at me. I sighed a little and waited for the three minutes that was taking an eternity to pass. My parents and I were not on good terms put bluntly. I really felt that they regretted giving birth to me. I wore my glasses and my sight sharpened. My parents glanced at me.

"We will be going now. Goodbye Olefin," my mother said shortly and they left. Just like that.

I wondered when I was going to board the train. I thought about the Games and again, I felt that same thrill. I chuckled and started making plans about how I should go about doing what I wanted. I suddenly really wanted to meet those people who were rebelling against the Capitol in their own way. They were so brave and so admirable.

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**A/N: Fun fact- Butterflies are representative of change, the afterlife and death. Think about this for a moment.**


	9. Train Ride

**A/N: This chapter and the next (Chariot Ride) will be horrible. D: I am not happy with how I wrote this but the chariot rides even more so. And my brain can't think up a new way to write them for the life of me. Still,**

**Enjoy! Oh and I'm hand drawing the cover :D...because having Ulquiorra as a cat and hugging a dango is sooo the right cover /sarcasm mode. I'll shut up now.**

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Baie's POV

I fingered my token. It was my sister's rope necklace that had a wooden eye charm. The wooden eye was apparently to help me concentrate. I stared at the switched off television then glanced around the carriage I was in. The dining table was empty (we had already eaten) and I was the only one currently in this carriage.

My district partner, Cal Grasse, had already gone off to his room muttering something about how he's going to die. I wondered if I should ally myself with him but he looked so skinny that I'm sure he's going to die on the first day of the Games.

I sighed and headed to my room. Our mentor was nowhere in sight and our escort had muttered about him being knocked out cold in his room. It makes me wonder just who on earth is he. Frankly speaking, I couldn't quite remember who the last victor for District Ten was.

I sat on my bed and decided to take a nap. It would probably do good to look as fresh as possible and gain some sponsors.

Cal's POV

I stared at the ceiling. The train ride was quiet and my room was quiet and the carriage District Ten was assigned was quiet. And...well, you get the point. Everything was quiet. I think I'm saying the word 'quiet' way too much. Oh darn. Here I go again.

I rolled over to my left side and stared at the dresser across me. Why was there one in the first place? I am a skinny boy of sixteen years. I already know I'm going to die so can someone just put me out of my misery already?

I groaned and buried my head in a pillow. I didn't really fancy killing myself via suffocation though. I thought about my family back home and the pieces I left them to collect. Truthfully, I didn't have much of a family. My older two siblings were killed in the 54th and 55th Games. Seriously, what was with the Grasse siblings being reaped one after another? Like me, my two brothers were skinny and underfed. We belonged to the poorer part of the district so we barely got by.

Matt would be twenty this year and Sam eighteen had they lived. I chewed my bottom lip and rapidly blinked the oncoming tears back but failed spectacularly. I closed my eyes and wished for darkness to take me away. My hand tightened around my black badge in the shape of a gladiolus.

Cosecha's POV

I stared at my small 5x5cm photo of my family. The escort, Lucia, had trilled about getting me a heart locket to keep the photo in it but she was nowhere in sight. I had a feeling that she either forgot about it or she was just making fun of me.

I looked at my district partner; Avalon Pivins. He saw me looking at him and offered a small smile. I smiled back and we both went back to ignoring each other. I stared out of the window. The scenery was passing by so quickly that there was just no time to enjoy it. I searched within myself for what I was feeling and all I came out with was serenity.

Well, it suited me just fine.

Avalon's POV

I did and undid the small ribbon I held in my hands. It was my token and it used to belong to my older sister. She...she was now dead. Even now, thinking of her death is just too painful. The thing is...I can't recall much about her death or how she died. It's all just so hazy and blank and it causes me so much pain when I try to recall.

I looked at Cosecha Ramirez. She is actually quite beautiful. She had jet black hair that fell past her waist and dark olive skin. I had yet to take a good look at her eyes so I don't really know their colour. Silence continued to stretch between us and the only sound was the tapping that our mentor made. He was tapping his foot on the floor with this rather bored and impatient look on his face.

Thistle looked at me when he caught me staring at him and raised an eyebrow as if asking, "what?". I hurriedly shook my head and returned my attention back to my ribbon. I heard him snort. It felt like this train ride was going to take an eternity.

Rava's POV

I twiddled my thumbs and looked at my district partner; Kurt Tesla. His chin was propped up on his right fist and he was gazing out of the window. An air of superiority radiated from him and it frightened me a little. Kurt was the mayor's son and practically everyone knows about his penchant for gossiping.

"Geez, I wonder how you, little girl, is going to survive in the Games," our mentor said.

Haymitch Abernathy. The person who won his 50th Games. I think he hates me. Well...who wouldn't? I can't speak and I am definitely not someone who has the ability to win the Games. I bit my lip and sniffled. I managed to hold in my tears though the dirty look I got from Kurt told me that he heard it and he didn't like it.

I rubbed my eyes and ran to my room. It was better in there. Much better than the death trap I was going into.

Kurt's POV

I stared out of the window and took in the scenery. All I saw was green, green and more green. It was incredible. I rolled my eyes and placed my feet on the table in front of me. I glanced at the girl standing near the train door. She looked so stiff and her entire body was quivering. I could tell that she was already going to die in the bloodbath. Oh well, I had no use for useless partners.

I closed my eyes and headed off to sleep. I could faintly hear Haymitch groaning and slamming his wine bottle down onto the table and the closing of a door. I yawned and then fell asleep for real. What blessed silence I had.

When I awoke, I found the train coming to a stop. Haymitch and our escort gathered Rava and I in front of them.

"First things first, no arguing with your prep team and stylist. They know best. Secondly, draw the crowd's attention when you're on your chariot. I don't care what you do. Just do it," Haymitch ordered us.

I nodded and memorized the information. It was vital to my survival. After that, we had dinner then were moved to our specific rooms where our prep team awaited us. After they cleaned us up, the stylist would come in then give us our clothes. I couldn't wait to see what they would dress me up as but I dreaded it a fair a bit because for the past few Games, we were dressed as coal miners. The horror.

Aviorra's POV

I watched the District Five tributes get pushed into their rooms. My eyes remained fixated on the male tribute and I bite my lower lip as a myriad of emotions explode in me. The scene felt all too familiar.

"Aviorra," Aeris called.

"Coming!" I yelled and made my way back to the dining table where the others were eating.

Death's toll was nearing.


	10. Chariot Rides

**A/N: And here I am with another chapter! I'm still alive ;D. XD. I rewrote some parts of this chapter so I think it's better than my last.** **Anyways, go to my profile to look at the poll and you can find the link for the full-sized cover on my profile!**

**Enjoy!**

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I watched the chariots come out. First out was District One of course. The female wore a blue sheer dress that was fluffy and flimsy. It looked like a lot of loose rags sewn together that was flapping around in the wind. It fell over her body like a waterfall down to her ankles and it was studded with different precious jewels that caught the light and sparkled. She was barefooted and her hair was pinned up with the similar jewels that were on her dress.

The male's attire was the same except he wore a tuxedo. It fitted him well and showed off what little muscles he had. I found it a bit pitying and remembered that no one volunteered for him. I wondered if he was greatly hated in his district. The crowd cheered and threw all sorts of flowers down onto them as they smiled and waved. It was all an act obviously but the point was to impress and gain sponsors.

"What are their names again?" I asked January.

"Octavian Amorous and Emerald Langley," he replied then gave me a look that said I really should be remembering their names.

"It's a mouthful," I defended myself.

"No it's not. Elagabalus Avitus is the real mouthful," he retorted.

"Cyrena!" a shout drew our attention.

I turned to see Cyrena on the ground. She was curled up in a ball and her forest green eyes were rolled up- I could see the whites of her irises. Janaury was hoisting her up and bringing her to a chair. A palm touched my back and I relaxed. I hadn't realized how tense I was.

I returned my attention back to the chariot rides but I couldn't help feel worried for Cyrena. Janaury was the only one who knew how to comfort her though.

I took a careful look at District Two and realized that Elagabalus was wearing only a loin cloth and Saffra Kilnam was dressed in a Stola and Palla. Her hair was done up elaborately and the curls framing her face brought out the sharpness in her chin. The crowd threw roses and once again roared their approval.

"You don't seem very stunned by Balus's loin cloth," my husband said.

"We've seen worse," I replied.

District Three came next. They were dressed as technicians who worked in the Capitol. Their clothing was silver with a metallic glint to it and there were tool belts around their waists. I listened for the audience's response and all I -or rather they- got was abject silence. The commenter didn't say anything either.

I looked at the District Four chariot and then up at the big screen where they projected everything. The camera was zoned in on their fingertips. It was barely touching.

"My, doesn't their fingertips remind you of the tributes from District Four seven years ago? Their fingertips were barely touching as well!" Caesar Flickerman said.

My eyes met with Delphinium Agatha's green eyes. He looked right at me and we stared at each other for a while before he broke eye contact. I turned my gaze to their costumes and they were dressed in a light, aquamarine blue. The female, Heather, wore a strapless gown that had pearls strewn all over it and her long hair was down and pearls were in them. Delphinium wore a suit and it complemented him...in a weird way.

The crowd screamed and more roses were thrown. I looked at my husband and noticed how blank his face was.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

I held January's hand and squeezed it. His hand was limp. I looked at the District Five tributes. Storm was wearing a long and flowing mottled dark purple dress that had electrical lights shooting down it. The electrical lights reminded me of lightning. Shrike's costume was similar in design but he wore a black button-up coat with no shirt underneath so it revealed a fair bit of skin and he wore long black trousers. The crowd cheered.

I heard Aviorra murmur something and looked over at her. She was leaning over the railing and peering downwards. I had to drag her back a bit before she toppled over. She shot me a sheepish grin but her eyes spoke a different story. She was afraid.

"I know," I murmured.

Aviorra sniffed a little then she slipped out from under my grasp and ran to Cyrena, pushing Janaury away from the red-haired lady in the process. The tributes from District Six were draped in sparkling golden-yellow. Yellow sequins in the shape of stars dotted their hair. The crowd's response was at best, mild.

The tributes from District Seven were trees. Literally. The crowd actually booed. I had to agree because their stylist was a complete idiot.

"My God," I heard Janaury say.

District Eight, Nine and Ten weren't too special but they apparently struck enough of a fancy with the sponsors that they cheered. Caesar and Claudius were giving out some rather nice compliments but none of the compliments compared to the ones they had given to the District One and Two tributes.

District Eleven's tributes were dressed as farmers and their costumes were actually the ones that were worn in the district. Apparently the closeness to the district struck well with the crowd because their cheers were louder than before and bouquets of flowers and who knows what were thrown onto the ground.

I glanced at Edel and Weiss and noticed the faint tugging of their lips. They noticed me looking at them and shook their heads together. They walked over and stood beside me.

"It still doesn't change anything," Weiss said softly.

"Nothing will," Cyrena said from behind me. "Ever since then, nothing has ever changed."

"You're wrong! Everything changes this year because...because..." Aviorra argued.

"I've made my decision. We won't go through with the original plan," I cut in.

My first reply was stunned silence.

"Are you sure?" Edel's voice was even.

"We cannot go against Snow's...command." there was a pause as January tried to find the right word.

"I can't let that happen to all of us and our goal as the Gamemakers is to make the Games interesting right? We'll do exactly that," I answered.

I looked at Janaury and he regarded me steadily. He smiled and laughed.

"If you say so!"

I got their agreement. We turned our attention back to the chariot ride and I realized that all the chariots were in the circle by now. I looked up and saw Snow looking at me. I gave a nod of acknowledgment. He did nothing except look away but the wordless exchange is enough to tell me that I better follow his orders.

"Jan...I'm...afraid," I murmured and leaned into him.

January wrapped a protective arm over me.

"I'll protect you."

_No you can't._


	11. Day 1 Training Part I

**A/N: Back with another chapter! I found writing this chapter mildly disturbing because of a certain love confession. I have more POVs in Day 1 Training Part II and Day 2 Training. You also know how to keep me happy with the reviews 3.**

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The tributes shuffled into the training centre and all their heads snapped up when they heard a clatter and a shout.

"Avi is so sorry!" a voice squealed.

"My pants," another person moaned.

"The tributes are here," the tone was flat.

"Please excuse the Gamemakers's silliness." a black haired woman came to the railing and looked down. "I am Aeris Egath, the head Gamemaker for this year's Games. Would a nice to meet you be in order here?"

Aeris smiled and gestured to the other Gamemakers. The tributes' eyes followed her hand and they were presented with quite a sight. A blond man was standing up with his pants soaked by what seemed like tea. A much shorter woman held a teacup that was still dripping tea. The other Gamemakers were laughing. They couldn't concentrate too long on it though, for the District Four female tribute started screaming.

"Heather!"

Delphinium glanced at the Gamemakers looking down at them and his gaze fixated on January. He guessed that that Gamemaker was the cause of it since Heather's green eyes were fixed on him. He swiftly stood in front of her, effectively blocking January from her sight and coaxed her into silence.

"Jeez, it isn't even the start of the Games and you're already going mad?" Emerald rolled her eyes.

"Is anything the matter?" January's crisp tone interrupted.

"Something is," Delphinium snapped as he shot a glare at Emerald.

"Whatever! Just get on with your speech already!" Linay scowled. She wanted to get to the stations as fast as possible and compete with her brother.

"Continuing, I'm January Egath and...the rest of you can introduce yourselves," January finished and sat back down.

Aeris whacked him on the head but the others introduced themselves except for Aviorra.

"Aviorra, it's your turn," Aeris reminded.

"Oh! Sorry, Avi was daydreaming! Anyways, Avi is Aviorra Cul and...do you like cookies?" Aviorra's question is so sudden and unexpected that a few moments of silence passed before the tributes either shake or nod.

The aura Aviorra exuded was enough to have them comply into answering her question. Add in the fact that she was holding a knife that had raspberry smeared over it and she was holding a life-sized teddy bear with this sadistic look on her face...

"Good! Ah, and Avi loves Shrike!"

"Oh, Aviorra," Aeris groaned. "You can do whatever you want now."

The tributes dispersed with Shrike feeling vaguely uncomfortable by the sudden love declaration. January watched the tributes talk to each other and the careers formed a small circle. His gaze followed Heather around as she messed around with a knot and ended up doing a complex one. His eyes zeroed in on her shaking hands then he watched Delphinium lead her to the careers.

"Stop being so obvious," Cyrena chided.

"That applies to you as well. You're looking at Balus so much," January replied flatly.

Cyrena scowled but didn't say anything.

Emerald's POV **(D1 F)**

I gathered the careers into a small group and we started to discuss potential team members for our alliance. I glanced at my district partner and snorted. He was weak. I've seen how idiotic he had acted before. I did a quick evaluation of my group.

Saffra couldn't speak and her body wasn't as well built as mine. ...I would have to see her around on the training stations. Elagabalus crept me out a lot but he looked useful enough. Delphinium was from District Four so that meant he was a swimmer and probably a good one. I would have to see his skills first though and Heather...after her little screaming fit earlier, I was iffy about her. I wouldn't want a member who would go mad about every little thing.

"Heather and I are a package deal by the way," Delphinium said, breaking me out from my analysis of them.

They walked away after that to the camouflage station. I looked around and realized my group was dispersing. I decided to observe them then make my decision from there. Meanwhile, I better go and show off to everyone that I'm not one to be messed with. I smirked and strolled over to the close-combat station; the one that held maces and clubs.

Shrike's POV **(D5 M)**

I flailed around with a spear and got a dirty look from the trainer. I put it back onto the rack and wandered around. I glanced up to where the Gamemakers were sitting and saw Aviorra Cul looking at me. She smiled when she saw me and gave me a little wave. I broke eye contact.

Her sudden love declaration and now her eyes were following me around were deeply unsettling but at the same time, I couldn't help but feel she looked strikingly familiar. I knew I had never seen her on national television so that option was out so...where? Where had I seen her? I shook my head to erase the thoughts and headed over to the camouflage station. The tributes from District Four looked up and while my face was blank, I smirked a little.

Heather glanced at me then went back to painting her arm into part of the rocks laid on the table. As for the male, he was asking the trainer for tips and such for camouflaging. I took a bunch of twigs and leaves and wondered what I could do with them to make myself look stupid when all of a sudden, a clatter broke through the tense silence of the training centre.

Linay's POV **(D6 F)**

My brother and I had split up at the beginning to cover more ground and make it easier to find alliances. It was a bit disappointing since I wanted to challenge him on The Gauntlet but there was always time for that later. I took a throwing knife, poised myself the way the trainer taught me and threw the knife. It missed the target by a little bit but it was close enough that the trainer gave me an approving nod.

A clatter pierced through the silence and I turned around to find the District Three male sitting on the ground with the rack of spears scattered in front of him. I think his name is Fickle? In any case, Fickle started giggling like a mad man and he picked a spear up and waved it around dangerously. I focused on my brother, Alec and to my horror, I realized just how close the spearhead was swinging.

"S-stop!" the District Ten male tribute exclaimed.

"Nooo," Fickle cried out and threw the spear at Cal. Cal dodged but tripped over his own feet and fell on the ground.

I left my station and walked over to Alec. Fickle skipped off, ignoring the shouts of the trainer in charge of the spear station to clean up.

"Are you all right?" I asked.

"Yeah," Alec replied.

He looked fine but his face was pale and there a bead of perspiration ran down his cheek. I shuddered, he had been so close to losing his life. I looked up at the Gamemakers and glared. Why hadn't they stopped Fickle Fletch?

I went back to my previous station and attempted to work on throwing knives again and sharpen my accuracy. It failed however. The rest of training was disrupted by Fickle throwing things around, mocking others and trying to create fights. One almost took place when the District One female tribute nearly bludgeoned him with a club she was holding but the trainers intervened. We were dismissed from training early and we all left for lunch.

And I still had yet to work the skills I wanted to improve on!

Adrian's POV **(D7 M)**

Lunch was a sorrowful affair. There wasn't any noise except for the whispering from the career pack and whatever other alliances that were formed during the chaos that was the training.

No one sat near Fickle. He was left alone and he was now humming a melody that sent chills up my back. I jolted a little when someone gripped my hand and realized it was only Nessa.

"Let's try climbing the ropes later," she said to me.

"Yeah," I agreed and smiled.

We both went back to eating.

Heather's POV **(D4 F)**

I placed my spoonful of rice into my mouth and chewed slowly.

"Heather, Delphinium, you guys are out. I'm not having a nutcase in the pack," Emerald said as she bit into her food.

I froze when I heard what she called me but Delphinium's warm hand on my back brought me back to my senses. I finished the last bit of my lunch and left the table. I bit my lip and clenched my fists.

If only that girl knew why I screamed. I snorted. I doubted she would really care. But the Gamemaker who introduced himself as January...the name was the exact same as my older brother's. I handed the tray and plate to a passing Avox and drifted back to the table but took my time in doing so.

Who was I kidding? My brother died in the Games seven years ago. I heard the cannon and the winner was a girl in any case. I bumped into someone and stumbled back a bit.

"Sorry," the person didn't sound sorry one bit.

I looked up and found myself face to face with January Egath. He smirked and then his hand came up to caress my cheek. I tensed up and slapped his hand away. The sound of flesh hitting flesh echoed throughout the quiet dining hall and everyone looked at me. I bit my lip and felt rather than saw January slip away.

"Is anything the matter?" Elagabalus asked when I came back.

"Nothing. Nothing at all," I lied.

Sure, there was nothing wrong at all except for the fact that the hand motion screamed "older brother". But he was dead.


	12. Day 1 Training Part II

**A/N: Enjoy!**

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Edel's POV

I watched Cosecha Ramirez try out the sword station and fail spectacularly at it. I laughed a bit at her predicament and received a tangerine to my head.

"Weiss," I sighed.

"Stop laughing at that poor girl," my twin chided me.

"Shut up. It's not as if you aren't laughing at Avalon," I retorted.

"True," he admitted. Then he turned serious. "When was the last time District Eleven won?"

"Five years ago, the 51st Games. Thistle Lupine," I rattled off. "Avalon Pivins and Cosecha Ramirez don't seem like real winners."

"Maybe they're just playing weak."

"Maybe."

But we both know they're not. I looked at Weiss. He was looking at Cosecha and his amber eyes were full of pain. I closed my eyes and leaned back on the chair's back. That's right. I remembered why her parents died. It was because of us.

Kurt's POV **(D12 M)**

"Kurt Tesla right?"

I stopped rattling off all the poisonous plants and insects to the trainer and turned to look at the District Two male tribute.

"Yeah."

The androgynous looking male leaned over and whispered into my ear, "Do you want to join our alliance?"

He made it sound like there was something more to the alliance. I smiled and placed a hand on his chest.

"Of course," I tilted my head. "But would a career want with me?"

Elagabalus leaned back. "We saw your skill at the throwing station or more specifically, your accuracy with the darts."

I smirked inwardly. Mission accomplished. I decided to do my rumour spreading the next day since I still wanted to observe as many as tributes as I could and get to know where their weaknesses and strengths were placed. I followed Elagabalus back to the career pack and was surprised at the apparent lack of District Four.

"We don't trust people who scream their heads off at any given time and my district partner is pretty well-known as being an idiot so he got kicked out," Emerald explained then she faced the Gauntlet and grinned. "Who's up for some racing?"

Saffra's POV **(D2 F)**

I was first to go on the Gauntlet. Balus had happily sabotaged me into going first by praising my speed to the skies. I wondered where he got that information since I never had much interaction with him before.

"Are you ready?" the female trainer called out.

I nodded and she pressed the timer. I jumped up onto the first platform and hopped onto the next one. The trainers surrounding The Gauntlet threw spears at me and I swiftly dodged it. I nearly lost my balance on the third platform but I found my centre of gravity and jumped onto the next one. A halberd hanging from the ceiling swung left and right on the topmost platform and I had to perform a fair bit of ducking to avoid the throwing knives being thrown at me. I finally found my chance and ran across. I leaped onto the platform leading down and it was an easy ride after that.

"50.62 seconds," the trainer who was timing me called out.

"Nice work," Balus praised.

"I'll go next," Kurt said as he stepped up to the Gauntlet.

We made some space for him and watched him as he readied to go through The Gauntlet.

Baie's POV **(D10 F)**

Like the other tributes, we stopped and watched the careers and one non-career go through the Gauntlet. The small girl from District Two kicked up her pace on her second run through and she shortened her timing by seven seconds. I dearly wanted to try running through it but I couldn't because of my strategy. I scowled but wiped it off my face and turned back to acting like an idiot on the slingshot station. My best weapon was actually the slingshot so me acting weak with it made it even better. There was an easier chance for an easy kill if someone underestimated me.

Rava's POV **(D12 F)**

I bit my lip as I tried to do the knot that I was showed by the trainer. I finally finished it and held it up for him to inspect it. He nodded and smiled.

"Good work."

I beamed and then paid attention as he showed me how to do a simple trap to trap animals like rabbits.

Fickle's POV **(D3 M)**

I meddled around with the rope I was given and showed it to the person in-charge of me. He gave me a small smile and I felt my lips quirk up. I stood up and strolled over to the ropes course. I flexed my fingers then started climbing it, expertly making my way through it. I pushed myself through a gap in the ropes and watched the trainer gape at me. I smirked and waved at them before swinging through the same gap and hanging off a rope. I surveyed the area under me and swung my body back and forth.

I made my way back to the ground and walked to the trident station. The District Four female tribute dropped her trident when her district partner hit her wrist and I laughed.

"My, how weak. I thought tributes from District Four would be able to handle a trident...more properly," I mocked before picking up one myself.

More correctly, it's not me. It was the Queen of Hearts. She got tired of being repressed and when she felt how badly handled I was, she snapped and took over. It was the Queen of Hearts. I giggled but it was Fickle giggling, not the Queen of Hearts. You're confused, right?

Aeris's POV

I watched the tributes change stations periodically as they familiarize themselves with things they had never seen before. Some failed at some stations and others did it masterfully. Then there were the others who were being weak on purpose. I should know because I had already looked over their files that held all the information about them. Though there wasn't anything about their likes or dislikes for food much to Aviorra's disappointment.

My colleagues and I were seated on top but we were all leaving each other alone. We had our own nightmares to tend to, even Edel and Weiss who were practically together ever since birth. I touched my heart locket necklace and smiled at the memory that came with it. The memory was tinged with bittersweetness though. I drank some of my tea and stared at the ropes attached to the ceiling.

I put my teacup down and picked up the letter I received from Snow. I stared at the outline of the black butterfly on the back. I understood his message very well. Death, metamorphosis, and dead souls. One could take it in a positive light but as if to further drive in the point that it meant bad in every way, the butterfly was drawn inversed as well.

I crumpled the letter and tossed it into the bin beside me. I glanced at the clock on the wall and walked over to the railing. I clapped my hands to gain the tributes attention.

"Training is now over for the day. Go back to your housing and stay there until tomorrow. Scoring will take place the day after tomorrow," I said.

The trainers started packing their items and the head training coordinator started to direct everyone out of the training centre. An Avox shuffled over to me and passed me a letter. I opened it and read the message inside. It was from Snow and he wanted to see me. I gave it back to the Avox and followed her out of the room. I looked back and gave a comforting smile to January but his face said he didn't accept it.

"Ah, Aeris, my dearest Head Gamemaker, take a seat," Snow patted the empty space next to him.

I honestly rather shoot myself in the foot than sit beside him but since I lacked a gun and I couldn't exactly reject his offer because of the warning in his voice, I sat.

"How are the preparations?" he asked.

"Going very well. Everything is proceeding according to plan," I answered.

There was no need to smile. Snow already knew everything about me so there was no need for pretences.

"It better or else...I can't promise what will happen," he replied smoothly as he stood up.

"It will be. Some of the tributes might have recognized us though," I added the last part as an afterthought.

"Let them. They're all going to die anyway," his tone was harsh but it was matter-of-fact.

We parted and as I headed back to my apartment, I stopped and stared at the darkening sky. I grimaced. It was too symbolic of what was going to happen eventually.

Heather's POV **(D4 F)**

My knees were pulled to my chest and my arms were wrapped around then. I rocked back and forth as I stared out of the large window and only turned around when I heard a knock on the door.

"Delphi."

He entered and stood at the edge of my bed. I let go of my legs and they straightened.

"What happened earlier?" I knew that he was referring to what happened in the cafeteria and the beginning of the training.

"One of them looked like my brother but he's dead. Come to think of it, you mentioned that your childhood friend took part in the 49th Games. Do you think my brother and her killed each other?"

"Maybe," Delphi's answer was short.

"She's Aeris isn't she?" I asked.

It all added up. The sudden look of disbelief when we were in the train and he saw her on television and the brief conversation afterwards about what happened.

"Aeris is dead. They just happen to have the same name. Our current goal right now is to survive. I'm going to sleep anyway, good night," Delphinium left.

I sighed. So is my brother. Just who were the Gamemakers?


	13. Day 2 Training

**A/N: I love you guys. The reviews! You make me happeh. Anyways, school is starting for me so my updates will be less frequent D: On a happier note, we're almost to the Games! Oh and I'm writing the prequel to this fic so after WLBP finishes, I'll be publishing the prequel. Yes, you get to find out everything about the Gamemakers there.**

**Enjoy!**

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"How are the tributes?" January asked, leaning on the railing and peering down.

"Still acting," Aeris answered.

"Avi sees that Kurt, Emerald, Elagabalus and Saffra are all in one group!" Aviorra proudly said as she jumped about with a cookie held between her lips.

Cyrena plucked it from her lips to avoid having the cookie dropping onto the carpeted floor.

"Confirmed alliances are the aforementioned people; they form the career pack. Quite rare for someone from District Twelve to be in it. The others are still scattered but Storm, Vanessa and Baie seem to be forming one," Weiss informed them.

"The others will form one in time," Janaury said from his perch on the armrest of a sofa.

"Except Shrike," Aviorra beamed.

The Gamemakers resumed observing the tributes. Aeris looked at the clock and sighed. Time was ticking.

Storm's POV **(D5 F)**

I frowned, staring at the assortment of plants in front of me. I looked at the trainer.

"Are you ready?" he asked. I nodded and he pressed the stopwatch.

I immediately started sorting out the poisonous and inedible plants from the edible ones. After a short while, I was done.

"Exactly forty-five seconds," the trainer said. "You've spent enough time here already, more than enough actually. Shouldn't you move on now?"

I pondered over what he said and eventually agreed. I left the station and looked around. The tributes were all doing their own training, including Fickle. I was quite surprised that Fickle wasn't creating any trouble today then I snorted. As long as he didn't interrupt in my training. I headed over to the traps station and greeted the trainer. He looked delighted to finally have a tribute there.

Sapphire's POV **(D9 F)**

I gobbled up my food and still, my stomach rumbled. I blushed. It must have been because I skipped dinner last night. I heard Turk sigh a little and stared at the sudden lump of food on my plate.

"Turk?" I asked.

"Take it," he answered gently, his charcoal grey eyes filled with concern.

"You need your food too!" I argued, pushing the plate back to him.

"I had dinner last night and you didn't," Turquoise chided.

"Fine," I mumbled, taking the food.

I was glad that my twin didn't question me on why I didn't take dinner last night but I guessed he already knew. I thought back to the reaping and I shuddered. It took me one full day to recover from the shock of being reaped with my brother.

"Turk, I can't kill you," I said.

I pushed my food around while waiting for his answer. I knew it already, of course.

"I can't either."

We both fell silent as trepidation wormed its way into our hearts. My grip tightened around the fork. If one of us had to die, I rather it be me.

Gabriella's POV **(D8 F)**

I stared at the person beside me. Lunch had just ended and I was at the knife station. I had successfully hit the bulls-eye three times in a row despite my inexperience with them. Not to say I instantly knew how to handled them of course. I messed up quite a fair bit before lunch.

"Olefin, what are you doing here?"

"I decided to take a look at what you are doing!" He beamed at me.

I held a knife up to him. "Would you like to try?"

Blood drained from his face almost immediately and he scuttled away.

"N-no thank you." and he fled.

I watched him go then turned back to the station. I frowned a little and looked at the Gauntlet. No one was using it at the moment. I hesitated and wavered between staying at the knife station or going to the Gauntlet. After a while of indecision, I made up my mind. The trainer looked surprised to see me and not to mention I had yet to make an alliance.

"Are you ready?" she asked.

I nodded. She pressed the timer and I started running.

Olefin's POV **(D8 M)**

I watched Gabriella run across the Gauntlet, faster than any of the careers on her first time. She was good. I looked around at the stations around me. Honestly, all I was doing was just walking around. I glanced upwards to where the Gamemakers and I felt a surge of hatred rise up in me.

I saw one of them looked down at me and I glared at him. What was his name? January? Janaury? I couldn't remember and I was unable to tell him apart from his twin. The tyrannical Capitol or more correctly, Snow. I clenched my fists and gritted my teeth. Treating our lives like a pile of trash.

"Is anything wrong?"

I looked up to see Avalon Pivins, the boy from District Eleven. I shook my head. He gave me a curious look before moving on to the plant station. I realized my entire body was shaking. My eyes met the Gamemaker's once more and he smirked at me before turning back to the others.

I refused to go down.

Cosecha's POV **(D11 F)**

I watched the arrow I had just released from the bow hit the mark on the dummy. I allowed a small smile and continued practising. I stopped for a moment and looked over at the person practising beside me. Alec Scott from District Six. He was failing terribly at handling bows and arrows. I watched him give up and then leave the station.

I turned back to pulling the string back and then I released the arrow. Its course was straight but a little shaky. It hit slightly off the mark but it was still close enough. I was good at this.

Shrike's POV **(D5 M)**

The time passed slowly but it worked just right for me. I managed to come off as being weak when I caught a pitying glance from a passing tribute I can't care to remember. He would die in the arena anyway. We were finally dismissed and that concluded our training. Tomorrow was our scoring and it was my chance to show who I really am...with a fair bit of acting of course.

I didn't bother waiting for my district partner and went up to our apartment first. She came up after me and we then had dinner. It was quiet save for our mentor rattling out things we should do in the arena to survive and how we can impress the Gamemakers. After we were done, I left the apartment on the ground that I was heading up to the rooftop. I needed time to myself to sort out my thoughts and plans without any interruptions.

I arrived at the rooftop soon after and sat near the edge. I mulled over my plan and finally came up with one. I looked around the roof. It was quite peaceful and there was a greenhouse as well. I shrugged. I didn't have much care for it as it didn't concern me all that much. I stood up and started walking back to the lift when I bumped into someone.

"Shrike!"

_"Shrike!"_

My eyes widened. It was the same lilting tone and the same voice. Light, happy but also shocked.

"Ivy," I whispered.

I watched the small girl in front of me jolt. I think her actual name was Aviorra? But she really reminded me of her.

"A-Avi doesn't know what you're talking," Aviorra replied, voice shaking as she stood up and glanced around frantically.

"I know you're Ivy even if you don't look like her. What are you doing here?" my blue eyes narrowed. The more correct question was actually why was she even alive.

"S-shut up! Avi doesn't want you dead. You don't know anything so-so," Aviorra stammered then she whirled around and fled.

I stared at her retreating figure and then she finally disappeared from sight when the lift doors shut. What was happening? Was that really Ivy or did I just mistake Aviorra for her? I shook my head then decided to ignore this. The Games were the day after the interviews, I couldn't lose focus right now but it was nagging at my mind.

Aviorra's POV

_No, no, no! _Why did I have to run into Shrike? I burst into the housing I stayed at with Aeris and the others. Aeris looked up and she must have noticed how hysterical I looked because she was beside me an instant. Cyrena was closing and locking the door. Aeris aided me down the stairs and sat me on the couch before asking what happened.

I sniffed. "Shrike, he-he found out. I ran into him on the rooftop and then he called me Ivy."

I looked up at Aeris and I saw how pale she looked. "Aeris, what do I do?" I asked.

"Nothing. The Games are taking place soon and hopefully he'll just forget it," January answered instead.

I bit my lower lip and looked down. My arms tightened around my teddy bear. I didn't want Shrike to die. If Snow found out then...

"Snow will just devise a way to kill him in the arena," Cyrena answered. Her voice was flat.

That was right. Murdering a tribute right before the Games started was foolish and it only made sense to kill them during.

"You're right," I murmured but I still didn't want him to die.

_Oh Shrike_, I squeezed my eyes shut as if I could block out the impending nightmare.


	14. Training Scores

**A/N: Short chapter is short so I included the interviews in the update as well. Oh and congratulations to Masen for being my 50th reviewer. You get a plate of cookies 8D. And a chapter dedication!**

**Enjoy!**

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"Finished judging them?" January asked as he peered over my shoulder.

"Almost," I replied.

I finished inking the last score and groaned in relief. I absolutely hated the private sessions. I had to judge them all fairly and being fair wasn't a trait of mine. I had my other Gamemakers with me though it was subjective whether they were being fair or not. I trusted them though.

"Done!" I announced.

The others immediately came back to the table. I focused on the mug January was holding. It was white in colour and was plain except for the heart drawn on it. I remembered drawing on it then offering it to him.

"So, what are the scores?" Weiss asked.

I gave the list to Weiss and after he read it, started passing it around.

District 1-

F- 9

M- 3

District 2-

F- 9

M- 10

District 3-

F- 4

M- 2

District 4-

F- 8

M- 8

District 5-

F- 8

M- 9

District 6-

F- 7

M- 7

District 7-

F- 7

M- 3

District 8-

F- 7

M- 3

District 9-

F- 7

M- 5

District 10-

F- 3

M- 5

District 11-

F- 5

M- 6

District 12-

F- 3

M- 9

"What's with all the F and M? I thought you were using their names?" Cyrena asked once she finished reading the sheet and passed it back to me.

"I couldn't remember all their names so I scrapped it and the files with all their names were in my room and we were in the training centre..." I trailed off.

"And yet you came back here to finish confirming all the scores. You scatterbrained person," January laughed as he sat beside me.

I smiled a little then stood up. "Well, I have to pass the scores to Caesar so I'll see you later."

They all scattered except for January but he already looked so lost in thought that I didn't say anything. I walked to Aviorra's room and knocked on the door lightly. I didn't hear a response. I sighed and left. She was probably still worried about Shrike and possibly...I shook my head, not wanting to entertain that thought. She was already over it, I told myself but I didn't quite believe it.


	15. Interviews

**A/N: You might find that I changed the style of the interviews 1/4 of the way through.**

**Enjoy!**

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"Welcome to the interviews for the 56th Hunger Games! And now, we have our first tribute for the night, Emerald Langley from District One!" Caesar announced.

The crowd cheered as Emerald strutted up to Caesar. She was dressed in a strapless floor-length green gown that was cinched at her waist. She flashed a grin at the crowd before sitting down on the red seat.

"So, Emerald, or would you rather I call you Em?" Caesar started.

"Oh, Em will just do," Emerald laughed while fluttering her eyelids a little.

Caesar laughed. "I'm glad you'll let me be so familiar. So, Em, what do you think are your chances of winning the Games?"

"There are no chances because I will win the Games," she replied confidently.

"We saw you volunteer and reach the stage before anyone else. Why did you want to volunteer so much?"

Emerald leaned forward, eyes glittering. "Honour. It would be such an honour to enter the Games and also, I wanted to let my family live a good life."

Now she was just lying through her teeth but she was willing to do anything to garner more sympathy. She got what he wanted. The crowd "aww-ed" and Caesar patted her arm. The buzzer went off then.

"Well then, let's give it up to Emerald Langley!" he shouted as they joined hands and raised them together.

The crowd roared and then Emerald was whisked off the stage. She passed Octavian who was dressed in a nice-looking penguin tux with a royal purple tie and shiny black dress shoes. They ignored each other.

"Hello Octavian!" Caesar greeted before turning to the crowd. "Let us welcome our second tribute, Octavian Amorous from District One!"

The crowd cheered but it wasn't as loud compared to Emerald's. Octavian sat in the plush red chair and swivelled around to face Caesar.

"So, it's quite rare that no one volunteers in District One," Caesar began. "Any idea as to why?"

Octavian's pale green eyes gleamed but he immediately put on the meek front. "I think it's because everyone there just wanted me dead," he answered softly, playing the too-weak-to-do-anything person perfectly.

He felt rather heard the crowd's sympathy for him and he had to conceal his smirk of triumph. He should be able to get more sponsors this way. The interview continued with Octavian trying to gather as much sympathy from the Capitol people as possible while making sure he wasn't being too much of a fake. When the buzzer finally went off, he was sure he had ascertained a place in the hearts of the people.

Saffra strode onto stage, dressed in a light green dress that shimmered a little in the light with her token -the small beaded bracelet- around her wrist. She sat on the seat and looked at Caesar.

"Saffra Kilnam, our District Two female tribute!" Caesar announced. He sat down and faced her. "Saffra, how nice to meet you. You cannot talk right?"

The warmness she felt from Caesar made her smile a little and nod. He swivelled his chair around, took something from an assistant and then turned back. He offered a sketchbook and pen to Saffra which she gratefully took.

"You must be quite proud to get a training score of nine. Can you tell us how you got it?" the crowd was silent. Asking about the private sessions were forbidden. The only reason Caesar was asking was because Aeris had promised to take the blame if Snow got angry.

Saffra wrote her answer and then presented it to Caesar who read it out.

"I just ran the Gauntlet."

The crowd laughed much to Saffra's delight. It was apparently apparent because of how Caesar quirked his eyebrows a little. She blushed at being caught but smiled.

"Saffra, can you tell us about what you like in the Capitol?"

The questions Caesar asked her were light and easy and brought forth a sweet and charming part of her. She managed to get several laughs out from the crowd much to her delight but the mood sobered immediately when Caesar asked his last question.

"Can you tell us why you're mute?"

Saffra froze as the crowd hushed. She lowered her eyes to the ground. Her mentor had told her not to tell the truth because she could endanger her family. She scrawled out the answer and presented it to Caesar.

"It is natural."

"I see. I'm sorry for asking," he replied gently then grinned. "Give it up for Saffra Kilnam of District Two!"

The crowd roared their approval as Saffra sunk into a low curtsy then made her way off. She passed her district partner along the way and they barely acknowledged each other. Elagabalus stepped onto the stage and immediately, he got catcalls and hoots.

Caesar laughed. "My, you're looking quite striking, Elagabalus."

"Balus is fine," Elagabalus answered with a wink. He flipped his black hair and sat on the red chair.

He wore an extremely short black dress that barely reached up to the middle of his slender thighs and he had black high heels for added effect. Caesar sat on the other chair after introducing him.

"So, Balus, do tell us how you managed to get a training score of ten," Caesar asked.

"I impressed the Gamemakers," Elagabalus answered seriously. He wasn't willing to let the other tributes know what he did to earn the highest score.

"You look drop dead sexy in the dress, any comments?"

"I have to thank my stylist and of course, you and the crowd for thinking like this," Elagabalus replied smoothly.

After another two questions which he had answered rather flirtingly to, buzzer went off. Elagabalus got twice as many cheers and hoots compared to before when he headed backstage, much to his pride. He passed the District Three female tribute who looked absolutely nervous in her chiffon pink dress. She took a step forward and nearly tripped if it wasn't for Elagabalus who grabbed her arm in time. Techra gave him a grateful smile then teetered off.

Caesar smiled warmly at her then introduced her to the crowd before letting her sit on the chair.

"Techra, tell me more about your token," Caesar asked.

Techra was greatly relieved. She was terrified he would start off with a question relating to her training score or her confidence about winning the Games. Both of which she had no sound answers for.

"My parents gave it to me. It used to be my mother's," she answered earnestly.

Caesar smiled and nodded. The interview continued on with light and easy questions flung her way. Techra was greatly relieved that Caesar seemed to understand that she didn't want to answer any questions related to the Games. When Fickle came out, his interview was not an interview at all. He parroted the questions back with an odd noise behind it every time and just before the buzzer went off, he offered some tea to which Caesar had kindly declined.

Delphinium's interview went smoothly with him being himself though he tensed up when he was asked about his sister. Heather was sweet but she almost broke down when Caesar asked her about her brother being reaped in the 49th Games. When she walked off the stage, her sweet expression had completely broken down and she was breaking out in cold sweat.

Storm from District Five was polite and answered her questions smoothly but she threw in a very displacing smile and she never answered her questions fully. Sometimes, one could detect a bit of sarcasm in her answers. She charmed the audience with her elusive answers though.

Shrike acted timid. When asked about his high training score, he pulled off his surprised act perfectly. He shot down Caesar's theory about him being as vicious as the bird he was named for with a wimpy shake of his head. His voice trembled as he answered Caesar's question but there was a certain strength in it.

Linay, the female tribute from District Six, had stomped onto stage barefooted. Her vivid blue eyes shone with a steely resolve and she answered her questions confidently. A not-quite-there smile was always on her face. Her answers were fierce, filled with utter confidence. People could tell that she was very competitive and despite being bold with her answers, she never came off as cocky and arrogant.

Her brother, Alec, answered his questions seriously. His face was wiped clean of emotion and he gave off a very mysterious air. He answered his questions honestly yet not to the point everyone knew his strategy. When asked about his feelings about being reaped with his sister, he said that he would give up his life for her. That struck well with the Capitol crowd and when he left, they had cheered very loudly for him. Someone had thrown him a rose.

Vanessa charmed the crowd with her answers and she would often throw in a very sweet smile. It warmed the crowd's heart and they were endeared even further when one of her replies that she would be more than willing to sacrifice herself for her twin brother because he came first.

Adrian had charmed the crowd as well. His replies to the questions asked were witty and hid his fear of being on stage and the Games very well. He almost slipped up once when asked about his opinion of the Games but he had answered it easily without giving any real depth to his actual thoughts about it.

Gabriella was shy on stage but she warmed up easily thanks to Caesar. Her answers were vague and had no real depth but she showed her determination to win the Games. When asked about her toughness, she had replied, "There's no point if you can't catch me."

Olefin confused the crowd. His answers were boring, academic even. He had went on a long speech about his opinion of the Games and bored everyone. The buzzer went off soon though, thankfully.

Sapphire from District Nine was full of life. She grinned often and answered her question with much enthusiasm and she was witty. Her eyes twinkled with slyness and cunning but she lost all of that when asked about her brother. Her reply then was serious and it was obvious that she was extremely protective over him. She had expressed a wish for both of them being able to live through the Games together.

Turquoise was shy and he often tripped over his words but his eyes were hard and sometimes, his confidence of winning the Games would shine through. Caesar had asked him whether he would be able to kill his sister if they were the last two left and he had answered that he would sooner kill himself than his sister.

The female tribute from District Ten, Baie, made the crowd like her a lot. She acted cute and sometimes would answer her questions with a girlish giggle. She said that she wasn't to be looked down upon when asked about whether she was disappointed with her training score.

Cal was meek. He mumbled out his replies and the interview was boring. He didn't bother hiding his fear at being in the Games. He was cynical, completely sure that he was going to be killed in the bloodbath.

Cosecha from Eleven pulled off the weak and pitiful act flawlessly. She managed to gain some sympathy from the audience and she swore that she even caught Caesar looking at her with something akin to sadness for her.

Avalon, Cosecha's partner, stumbled over his words several times when answering. He bounced up and down several times in his seat and his eyes shone with excitement. The crowd had automatically assumed he was excited to be in the Games when really, he was just thrilled to be on stage. His occasional silence seemed to give him some semblance of seriousness since he looked as if he was struggling with understanding the gravity of the situation.

Rava's interview didn't go well. At least from her point of view. She wasn't even given a pen and paper to write on but Caesar related her story to the listening people. Unbeknownst to her, the crowd had sympathized a little with her but how much they pitied her was hard to judge.

The Capitol loved Kurt. Really loved him. His love for the Capitol was seen through his replies and actions. Sure, his outfit might have been a bit much since his shirt practically had the words "I L . O. V . E The Capitol' printed across it. When asked about how he had managed to enter the Career Pack, his answer was a little vague. He shrugged off the question about whether he was confident about winning the Games with a grin that screamed 'I'm going to win it anyway'. The Capitol had cheered loudest for him.

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**A/N: Feel free to pelt me with stones for the sudden change in style xD.**


	16. Bloodbath

**A/N: I got so excited I literally dropped everything I was doing just to write this chapter. Though I got so distracted I spent...quite some hours completing this. **

**Enjoy!**

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Techra's POV **(D3 F)**

I landed in a very dark place. I tensed up and looked around, careful not to move an inch. I didn't want to get blown up. I could barely see ahead of me and all I saw were shadowy figures of the other tributes. Each time another tribute's plate landed on the arena, I heard a splash and the darkness grew brighter. Soon, the arena became bright enough for me to realize that the cornucopia was right in the middle and the walls surrounding us were bright red. And the red was more than that. It was a bright _bloody_ red.

"60...59...58..."

I tensed up as the countdown started and I took a quick sweeping look around. There were 8 corridors leading to god knows where. I heard a scream followed by a creepy laugh. I paled. This was bad. I lifted my foot just a little and put it down again. Liquid sloshed against my suit. I looked down on the floor and my eyes widened.

Blood. The entire floor was covered in so much blood that they covered everyone's ankles. A cannon went off and I let out a shriek. I stumbled, lost my balance and found myself flailing towards the floor. Oh. My. God. I didn't want to die. Not like this. Not like- my thoughts were cut off when I hit the floor. The last thing I felt was pain. So much pain I thought it impossible.

Adrian's POV **(D7 M)**

My eyes widened when I saw two tributes get their heads blown off. It seemed to have set off something though, because the next thing I knew was that red liquid started coming down from the ceiling. It was only a sprinkle but it added to the heavy scent of iron. I let out a gasp when I realized what it was. Blood. This entire place was filled with blood.

"10...9...8..."

My eyes met with Nessa's. She was two tributes away from me. She gave me a nod as we shifted into a running stance. My eyes landed on Fickle and I noticed how calm he looked. I shook my head and focused on the spear that was quite a distance away but still near enough for me.

"3...2...1... Let the 56th Games begin! Happy Hunger Games!" Caesar and Claudius announced together.

I ran.

Delphinium's POV **(D4 M)**

It was insane. One look at the male from district three told me that he was different and seriously, he was the one doing all the attacking. I ran and narrowly dodged a knife thrown my way. I winced when I heard a gurgled scream of a tribute who got struck by it instead and grabbed the two tridents lying in front of me. One for Heather and the other for me.

I grabbed two more supplies and had to throw myself to the ground to avoid being speared by a spear. I got a mouthful of blood and accidentally swallowed some. I spat out the rest and grimaced. It was so thick. I looked up and saw Heather running towards me but I saw Fickle preparing to hurl a sickle at her. I jumped up, ready to throw a trident at him but I saw Elagabalus hurl a chakram at him. Fickle was beheaded on the spot.

I felt my hand being yanked backwards and when I shot a quick look over my shoulder, realized that Heather was pulling me towards a randomly chosen corridor.

I had never felt so nauseated before.

Sapphire's POV **(D9 F)**

When the gong went off, I practically hurled myself off the metal plate and ran to the nearest weapon I saw; a spear. I had no idea why some weapons were placed among the edge but I went for them anyway. I jerked my head up and saw the district four male tribute beside me though he was still quite a distance away. He was a career. I had to kill him first.

I was so close to reaching the spear when I heard a whizzing sound and saw a throwing knife coming my way. I could catch a fleeting glimpse of the district four male tribute ducking before I felt pain erupt in me. I let out a scream as I fell to the ground and looked down. The knife was sticking out of me.

"Fire!" the scream was hoarse and I found Turquoise standing near me, a horrified expression on his face.

I was dimly aware that I was crying. Turk looked ready to kill himself to join me but no, I wanted him to live. He had to. At least this solved the problem of us having to kill each other if we lived to the top two.

"Run," I told him. I was surprised that my voice still worked. I saw the red ground rush up to me and my eyes closed. The last thing I remembered was a strangled cry.

Cosecha's POV **(D11 F)**

Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh. My. God. I just killed someone with my bare hands. I couldn't stop staring at the knife sticking out of the girl's chest. A knife that I had thrown. I looked up to find her partner -her brother if I remembered correctly- raising a spiked mace to bring it down on me. I barely managed to throw myself out of the way but the mace hit my legs. A scream tore its way out my throat.

"You...you..." my eyes widened as I watched him prepare to bring the mace back down onto me.

I had no weapons and had nothing to defend myself with. I closed my eyes and prayed that my death would be over quickly with the bare minimum of pain. The agony I felt next was unlike any I have felt before. It hurt even more than when my legs were struck by it.

Darkness claimed me.

**General POV**

Rava and Avalon ran. The two allies aimed for the same black backpack they saw. Their eyes met and reached the backpack at the same time.

"Sorry Twelve but that's _mine_." the tone was laden with honey and it promised death.

Rava's eyes widened as Emerald brought her club down on her. Rava's body slumped into the blood, her skull showed a dent that was the size of the club Emerald carried. The district one female smirked as she picked the backpack up.

She saw Avalon's body hit the bloody ground. One throwing knife had buried itself in his head and the second one was sticking up from his chest. Saffra bent down and picked the knives up, calmly wiping the blood off the knives. She motioned for Emerald to follow her. Emerald laughed and did as told. She felt a bit heady and put it down to having the Games started. She smirked. She couldn't wait to put her plan into effect.

Delphinium stared at the place he and Heather were in. They looked to be in the middle of fucking nowhere. There was a lake just ahead of them with an island in the middle and the island had a red flag stuck in the middle for a reason beyond his comprehension. They also had went from being in an area full of blood to an area full of water. It fitted them just fine though. They were from District Four.

"Delphi? Delphi!" Heather hissed as she poked his arm with the handle of her trident.

"Oh wha-?" Delphinium asked, jolting and looking around, thinking there was an enemy.

"Let's go to the island," Heather replied, taking his hand and she started dragging him further in.

"Oh all right. It's interesting though. I would think that the blood from earlier would have mixed in with the water," he answered as he started swimming to the island.

The blood that clung to his suit was washed off in the lake and it dispersed, staining the lake a light red but the red soon disappeared from it. He stood up once his legs could touch the bottom and walked onto the shore. Heather was just behind him.

"So, what do we do? I saw seven other corridors and I think they all lead to a different place and the cornucopia is smacked right in the middle of the arena," Heather said as she started drawing out a rough sketch of the outline of the arena.

"Your drawing is horrible," Delphinium commented and received a glare from her. "I think you're right but are those separate areas connected to each other? Or do we have to run through the middle to reach another area?"

"I don't know, that's the problem," she answered and sighed.

She was about to sit cross-legged on the sand when she heard voices. Her hand immediately went for her trident beside her as she readied to attack the tributes. Delphinium did the same. He raised his hand, poised to hurl the trident at the coming tributes but he paused when he saw the tributes throw down their weapons and raised their hands. Were they actually inviting them to kill them?

"Want to be allies?" apparently not.

Delphinium lowered his hand warily and Heather got up from her crouching stance.

"Who are you guys? I'm Delphinium from Four and Heather's my partner," he said.

"Linay from Six and this is my brother Alec," the blond haired girl called back.

Delphinium glanced at Heather who nodded her assent. He looked at them. "We'll ally with you two then but...can you guys even swim in the first place?"

Gabriella sat beside Octavian. They had met in the same tunnel leading to where they were right now and had decided on an alliance on a whim. They both agreed to break it up when the number of tributes were narrowed down though. She sighed and looked up at the beige coloured ceiling.

"This room kind of creeps me out," she said.

The room they were in was a musical room. It was ridiculously huge. Two pianos were placed at the end of it with an actual pipe organ in the middle of them. The colour scheme was a terrifying bright pink and yellow and musical instruments cluttered the sides. Gabriella had a sudden, frightening thought that the mutts for this room would be the musical instruments itself.

She grimaced. Octavian caught it and asked her what was wrong. She explained her theory and all she got was a nod. She sensed that her ally wasn't really up for chit chat right now. The national flag of Panem appeared then and the anthem started. After it was over, the pictures of the tributes dead were showed.

The two tributes from District Three, Adrian from District Seven, Olefin whose district was just after Adrian's, Sapphire from Nine, Cal from Ten, the two tributes from Eleven and finally, Rava from the last district. The pictures faded away after that and Gabrielle jolted when she heard two beeping sounds. She looked up and to her surprise, saw two silver parachutes dropping down to them. She wondered how the parachutes could have worked their way from the sky to them.

Shrike stared at the silver parachute resting in front of him. He was currently in the desert part of the arena much to his hatred. There were no pylons whatsoever for him to swing around with and the desert felt quite unfamiliar. He opened the parachute and saw a piece of paper attached to the packet. He brought it up and switched on the torchlight he had found in a backpack he grabbed from the cornucopia.

_Bird lives and flies ~Avi._

Shrike smirked. He knew what she meant. He and Aviorra had a special way of communicating with each other back when they still belonged in the same district. It was in line with what they did anyway.

"I will," he muttered.

He tore open the packet and found two large cookies in it. Ah, that's right. Aviorra had asked if anyone liked cookies back in the training centre. He hadn't realized that she meant she was asking for people's preference. Probably no one else did. He folded the packet as best as he could without breaking the cookies and wrapped it up in the silver parachute again. He decided to wind down for the night though it was tough being alone. He had no idea if there were any other tributes in the same place as him.

* * *

**A/N: Lol yes. Aviorra's question about them liking cookies wasn't just for fun.**


	17. Do or Die but you'll still die anyway

**A/N: Back with an update! You gain more insight on the arena here and the Gamemakers. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Miss Aeris, President Snow wants to see you." a stiff Peacekeeper said.

Aeris turned around and nodded. She held up a hand to signify for him to stop walking and she called January over.

"Snow wants to see me. Take over until I come back," she whispered.

January nodded and she walked off with the Peacekeeper. January watched her go with worried eyes and hoped that whatever that was going to happen would be nothing too serious. He turned his attention back to the screens and zeroed in on the north sub-arena.

Kurt took a rock and threw it at the lake. Or rather, he tried to. He narrowly avoided having his brains splattered all over the ground as the rock bounced back. It hit the mud and when Kurt looked back, he saw a rather deep dent made in the mud. He grimaced.

"Em, found anything?" he called as he walked back to their agreed meeting place; a cherry blossom tree.

The area they were in was full of tall and long green grasses. All the spring flowers you could care to think up were in the area. The most notable of them all was the cherry blossom tree in the middle of the sub-arena. It was tall and the flowers on it were abundant. The flowers were light pink but there sometimes, some white blossoms could be spotted among them.

While looking extremely beautiful, Kurt had learnt the hard way that the flowers weren't all that harmless. He had tripped over a concealed tree root earlier and when he landed on the ground, his fingers were inches away from being swallowed up by a carnivorous ghost flower. The ghost flower had tracker jackers hovering around it as well. Luckily for him, he managed to get away from them before he could get stung.

Kurt came to a stop once he reached the tree. He wrinkled his nose a little when he realized how muddy his shoes were. He snapped back to attention once he heard squishing noises and his hand immediately went to his weapon of choice; metal needles coated with poison. He relaxed a little when he realized it was only Emerald.

"Anything?" he asked.

"Nothing at all," she replied in disgust. She had been hoping to meet some tributes to give them a good bashing. She held up two animal corpses for him to see. "I found them just now."

Kurt nodded. It was a rabbit and squirrel. He glanced around. He didn't see any other animals in the vicinity.

"Em, wait," he called as he picked up his pace a little to catch up with the older girl. The brown haired girl paused and turned back. "You know, I've been thinking through this really carefully and why don't we team up with each other?" he had to resist the urge to call her a simpleton aloud when he saw her look of puzzlement. "As in, we'll be secretly teaming up with each other and when the opportunity presents itself to us, we'll backstab the other people in the alliance."

Kurt waited patiently for Emerald's reply though as the seconds passed, he was getting more and more impatient. Couldn't she see that she could benefit from it? Finally, he got an answer.

"All right."

Kurt beamed at her. "Great! Let's head back to the others."

They both headed back to the cornucopia but Emerald was thinking of other things. She would twist it to benefit only herself.

* * *

Baie dumped the dead animals and berries she had gathered and killed onto the scorched, cracked ground. She looked around and still couldn't help but feel a little awed by the sight that she was presented with. Baie and her alliance were at a clearing that showed how dry the ground really was but the surrounding scenery was breathtaking. Tall, long yellow grass swayed in the breeze and it stretched on endlessly. The trees were sparse and they were quite far away from where Baie was. There was one big tree right in the middle of the clearing her and her alliance was camping in. There was a small house that was only a dot from what Baie could see.

She sat down and started sorting out the rabbits and squirrels she had killed. She thought back to the mutt she came across. It was a blue rabbit and looked absolutely cute (and delicious) and she would have killed it if it wasn't for the fact that she noticed how the ground would simmer a little after every hop. On closer inspection, she realized the rabbit's fur and paws were acidic. There was no telling where the acid came from but most likely, it was from inside the rabbit. Come to think of it, where were the other two?

Vanessa had separated herself from the other two. She decided to walk all the way to the end in the north direction while Storm had headed in the east direction and Baie in the west. Vanessa could tell because of the sun's position. She stopped beside a tree and looked at it. She vaguely remembered it being called a Joshua Tree or something and the place they were in reminded her of one of those savannahs she learnt in school. She had seen pictures of the old countries.

She travelled a little further in and stopped when she saw a house with chiffon yellow painted walls with a red roof and a chimney. Curious but also tentative about what the house held, she approached it and searched for the entrance. She finally found it and started making her way there but then she bumped into something that electrocuted her a little. Frowning, she pushed at the invisible barrier and once again felt the same shock. She realized then that she was right at the edge of the sub-arena. It must be the force field, she thought.

Vanessa decided to climb over the short white picket fence. She did so and then stopped in front of the door. Her hand hovered above the knob uncertainly. Should she open it? What if she did and then a gigantic carnivorous squirrel came bounding out and chewed her head off? Her fear had never felt so real. The fear of the unknown. She swallowed and took a leap of faith.

When she entered the house, what greeted was shocking. Photos decorated the walls of the house. They were even pasted onto the floor, table, chairs, _everywhere_. She closed the door and clutched the spear she somehow managed to grab from the Cornucopia tightly to herself.

She inspected the photos and realized that they had the tributes in them. There was one thing though. The tributes were with other people. And always, the photos would hold exactly two people be it they smiling or talking or crying. It felt like someone was stalking them.

The worst part?

Vanessa recognized herself and Adrian in one of the photos. They were with a friend of theirs. A friend who is dead. It rocked her and left her feeling horrified. Just what was the Capitol? What were they doing? Unable to take the enormous amount of emotions overwhelming her, she ran out of the house and swore never to step in there again. The words "KILL YOU, KILL THEM" written in blood on across a wall of photos didn't help either.

"Baie!" Baie looked up when she was called.

Vanessa and Storm- the only two she had allied with- were walking towards her with dead rabbits. Baie raised an eyebrow. The area they were in was surprisingly full of food. She wondered if that was the Gamemakers' way of toying with them. Feeding them food only to have poison set in a few days after. She wouldn't put it past them.

"Wow, that's a lot of food you've gotten," Vanessa commented as they set down the four rabbits they had caught.

Baie nodded in agreement. She thought of telling them to stay away from the blue rabbits but she rethought it again. They were still her enemies...she would not tell them then. As the other two sat down and started sorting out their food, they made small conversation on how to plan out their battle strategy.

The atmosphere around them was relaxed but there was still the element of distrust and tension. They had eased up a little with each other though but it was evident they were all hiding information from each other. As for Baie, she was planning out her own personal strategy. She was going for what her mentor had taught her but wanted her own personal touch in it.

It also came with a great relief for Storm that she was in an alliance because she was certain that Baie and Vanessa wouldn't mind seeing her being beheaded.

"Storm, watch out!" Vanessa cried.

"Duck!" Baie added at the same time.

A bit confused, Storm just went for what was natural and ducked. Something harmlessly swung past her head and she thought she felt a few strands of her hair get cut off.

"For Fire." the voice was eerily flat.

The trio looked up and their eyes widened. It was Turquoise who looked bent on killing them. The scythe he held in his hands didn't help either. Did a sponsor send that to him? No matter, they couldn't think of trivial stuff now. They had to fight.

* * *

"Aeris!" the cry was hoarse.

Snow looked up from the paper he held in his hands and stared straight at January and the five other Gamemakers behind him.

"What have you done to her you bastard?" January shouted as he took a step forward, one fist clenched and ready to punch the daylights out of Snow but Janaury held him back. To act impulsively right now was dangerous.

"It's merely her punishment for wanting to go against me." Snow gestured to the limp body of the black haired woman.

Her head was bending down and her body swayed a little from side to side. The clothes she wore were reduced to merely rags and they were barely hanging off her body. Cuts marred her body and when she lifted her head to see January, blood was trickling down the corner of her mouth.

Terror hardly suited what he felt. It was something greater than terror, more raw and more untamed. He had been with Aeris for seven years. Been through the pain of losing her loved ones, the anger and hatred aimed at the Capitol, happiness and more. He never once felt love for her though, despite being married.

Snow smirked, knowing what January was thinking. It was all too easy. The others were shifting behind him as well, all having varying degrees of anguish and anxiety on their faces.

"I have a proposition. You do as I say and she gets to live. You don't and...well, all of you die."

Really, they had no choice. It was a do or die situation but they all knew that they would still die in any case.

"But it's too risky! It's never been done before!" Cyrena argued. "If the audience doesn't like it, what would you do?" she knew she could very well be killed on the spot for that last sentence but it had to be said. It would reflect badly on Snow if it failed.

"They will like it simply because it has never been done before," he responded harshly. "Now choose!"

"Avi accepts," Aviorra said, her voice ringing out clearly. Her eyes were cold and hard.

"Edel and I accept too," Weiss said, speaking up for his sister who had suddenly gone rather mute.

January, Cyrena and Janaury turned on the trio. Were they insane?

"We still get the chance to live if we enter. That's why," Aviorra reasoned but her trembling body said otherwise. She didn't want to go in. She didn't want to face..._him_.

Cyrena gritted her teeth. If only they had just died in that fateful Games. But Aviorra was right. If they rejected the proposal, they would be killed on the spot.

"I accept as well," she spat out before turning and leaving.

January and Janaury glanced at each other then nodded.

"We accept."

Snow allowed himself a small smile and nodded. He turned to the Peacekeepers.

"Release her," he ordered before leaving himself.

* * *

**A/N: My, Snow apparently has his own agenda of meddling with the Games. What could it be and what are all the photos of the tributes doing in that house? Symbolic meaning? Perhaps, perhaps.**


	18. Dwindle

**A/N: I am horrible at fighting scenes. I actually ran into a fair bit of writer's block for this one until I decided the amount of tributes to kill.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Baie rolled away from the sharp end of Turquoise's scythe coming down on her. She jumped up and backed a few feet away, hand poised to throw her throwing knife. She still had several left. Baie's usage of the throwing knife was average at best but her accuracy was incredibly precise. Her eyes flicked to Vanessa who was creeping up on Turquoise to gain a better judgement of distance and strength she needed. Storm was discreetly setting up a large trap around Turquoise, Baie and Vanessa were meant to distract him.

He growled and ran at Baie. She instantly hurled her throwing knife at him and Vanessa threw her spear. He evaded the knife but the spear tore into his right side. He let out a cry of pain and hit the ground. Baie twirled her second throwing knife around as she approached him. Storm walked up.

"Any last words?" Storm chanted.

Turquoise could barely speak. Most of his strength had been depleted already and so he shook his head. Storm glanced at Baie and she bent down before using the knife to bring it across his neck. Turquoise smiled as he started bleeding to death. He could finally be with his sister again. For him, that was enough. He didn't mind dying because he rather die than live with the agony of losing Sapphire if he did win.

"I'm...coming back home..." he whispered.

His cannon went off.

* * *

"What kind of mutts are they?" Gabriella yelled to Octavian as they both rolled to the left side.

Gabriella almost skidded off the pillar she was on but Octavian managed to grab her hand in time. They watched the tall and shadowy figure drop into the lava. They had finally decided to venture into the other arenas when all of a sudden, the ceiling of the musical room opened up and the room quite literally fell apart. The floor they were on rose up and then parts of it disappeared, leaving Gabriella and Octavian standing on pillars with a one meter wide distance between them and the next pillar. A mutt which they could not identify had appeared after that and quite literally chased them around.

Whatever they did to attack it failed because it had only bounced off the mutt and soon enough, they learned to just run and hope it weakened or something. It had lost its footing and fell straight into the lava though, letting out an agonized howl. Gabriella peered over the edge and realized that it was really a genetically engineered armadillo cloaked in shadow that only melted away when it hit something as hot as the lava rising.

...lava rising...

"Octavian! We have got to find a way out of here," she shouted, running to him.

He nodded, agreeing but how could they get out? The lava was continuously rising. He looked up for a switch of sorts to stop it. All around them, there was only the pillars. He finally found the switch on the middle pillar.

"Gabriella, over there," Octavian called.

They both glanced at the steadily rising lava. Octavian calculated the rate it was rising and the distance left and figured they had about three more minutes. He counted the pillars needed to get to the middle one. They were a good thirteen pillars away. He started jumping his way there but he only managed to jump onto the fourth pillar before feeling exhausted. Luckily for him, Gabriella's stamina was better than his and after managing to hold onto Octavian in such a way that enabled her to jump without being hindered too much, the duo started making their way to the middle pillar.

Octavian personally thought Gabriella stupid for helping him. She could have just pushed him off the pillar since he was too winded to do anything and save herself. He concealed his smirk. It would play out to his advantage in the end though. They finally reached the middle pillar and Octavian took a quick glance at the lava. One minute left, he thought.

Together, they moved the switch -which turned out to be a red lever- to the right side and the lava stopped rising. That didn't stop them from feeling the heat though. Sprinklers came on and Gabriella tensed, waiting for blood to come from it but nothing did, only drops of water. They waited for a while before the lava finally receded and then rain started pouring from the dark sky. It felt like a flood to them as they watched the water very slowly gather and pool at the very bottom.

Gabriella and Octavian soon got soaked to the bone. They smiled at each other. They had lived. For a while, none of them spoke, just watching the water rise. The rain was lightening already but the water level didn't stop. Octavian stared at it, analyzing the rising rate. It stopped after he did that though, and he breathed a sigh of relief. He doubted there would be anything else to stop it.

He looked at Gabriella who had her back to him. How foolish, he remarked in his mind. It was not wise to turn a back to the enemy even if they were in an alliance. He approached her from behind.

"Gabi, I must thank you for saving me just now," he said warmly.

She smiled at him. "We're allies right?"

He nodded. "Yes, yes we are." he paused and then raised his hands. "Which is why I'm sorry."

Her mouth formed an 'o' of surprise as he pushed her off the pillar. It was slippery from the earlier downfall so she had no way of getting back her balance and she tumbled down. Octavian watched Gabriella scream then she closed her eyes and peacefully fell into the water with a loud splash. A cannon boomed as Octavian turned his back on her floating body.

He thought that perhaps it was a little too early to be killing off his ally but now only thirteen remained including him. He decided to worm his way into another alliance and repeat the same thing. He wasn't really surprised when the pillars sunk back to the floor as the water receded. It looked like what the Gamemakers wanted was a death. Octavian picked up his bow and arrows and the three cookies- one left behind and uneaten by Gabriella.

He armed himself then decided to go into another sub-arena. There was nothing in the current area he was in left for him.

* * *

Later that night, Delphinium and his allies saw the dead tributes. The boy from nine and the girl from eight, huh, he thought. That meant four districts with no winners. District Three, Nine, Eight and Eleven had all lost their tributes.

Ten more to go, Linay thought as she glanced at Alec, Heather and Delphinium. Who would die tomorrow? Her? Alec? Her allies? The remaining tributes? It was the first time this really hit her but Linay now knew that the future was uncertain, unproven. After all, didn't being reaped for the Games tell her this?

"So two of us are going to steal from the Careers tomorrow," Delphinium said, breaking the silence.

"I'll go," Linay volunteered. She was getting a bit bored of sitting around.

They had explored more of the arena earlier in the day, trying to find the boundaries of the area and they had seen two other areas but a force field blocked them from entering the other areas. There was some fish. They had attempted to catch them but it soon became clear they were inedible because of the poison that they released when the tridents speared them. The only land was the island they were on. It was really quite a desolate place.

"I'll go with you," Delphinium replied.

Alec frowned, not liking the arrangement. He didn't trust any of the District Four tributes. They were careers after all, though Heather seem to prove otherwise what with her frequent breakdowns that only Delphinium could sooth.

"All right!" Linay agreed enthusiastically.

The four started to wind down for the night. They were not interested in forming attachments, it would only kill them in the end.

* * *

**A/N: To clarify, Turquoise was really upset by Sapphire's death and went into a berserk mode which actually caused his death now that I think about it. **

**Guess who dies in the next chapter and your tribute gets to live for an extra day.**


	19. What Remains

**A/N: This is really a filler chapter. As per request of one of you, I decided to make a chapter with who is alive. The chapter about the Games will come later.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

_"They're all little birds trapped in the cage."_

Caesar thumbed through the pages he had to read for the night's show. Claudius would take over his role of commenting on the Games. The sentence that Snow had written above, "They're all little birds trapping in the cage." had hit home more than Caesar thought possible. He knew of the Gamemaker's plight and what had transpired for them to become Gamemakers in the first place. He sighed and started reading each of the tribute's information.

**District One:**

**Emerald Langley, 17**

Weapon(s) of choice: Mace, club and her fists.

Tributes killed: 3

**Octavian Amorous, 14**

Weapon(s) of choice: Bow and arrow

Tributes killed: 1

**District Two:**

**Saffra Kilnam, 14**

Weapon(s) of choice: Throwing knives and bow and arrows.

Tributes killed: 2

**Elagabalus Avitus, 17**

Weapon(s) of choice: Chakrams

Tributes killed: 2

_**District Three tributes have been killed.**_

**District Four:**

**Heather Sea, 16**

Weapon(s) of choice: Trident

Tributes killed: 0

**Delphinium Agatha, 17**

Weapon(s) of choice: Trident

Tributes killed: 0

**District Five:**

**Storm Tunestrovia, 15**

Weapon(s) of choice: Poison and traps

Tributes killed: 0

**Shrike Lanius, 17**

Weapon(s) of choice: Knife

Tributes killed: 0

**District Six:**

**Linay Scott, 16**

Weapon(s) of choice: Throwing knife and spear

Tributes killed: 0

**Alec Scott, 18**

Weapon(s) of choice: Spear and sword

Tributes killed: 0

**District Seven:**

**Vanessa Sadfetes, 12**

Weapon(s) of choice: Spear

Tributes killed: 0

_Adrian Sadfetes has been killed._

_**District Eight** tributes have been killed._

_**District Nine** tributes have been killed._

**District Ten:**

**Baie Kaeliv, 12**

Weapon(s) of choice: Slingshot

Tributes killed: 1

_Cal Grasse has been killed._

_**District Eleven** tributes have been killed._

**District Twelve:**

_Rava Agnes Sheers has been killed._

**Kurt Tesla, 16**

Weapon(s) of choice: Needles and poison

Tributes killed: 2

Caesar kept the papers and decided to have his dinner. He wasn't at all surprised by the information he was given. It was cold and clinical, giving him only the barest of information to keep the sponsors happy. Part of the fun was watching the Games anyway. To know everything was to kill off what was considered entertaining.


	20. Dwindle II

**A/N: I'm so glad ff now has this copy and paste function. It makes it much easier to just copy and paste one chapter. I also find that I'm finding quite new medical stuff when I write. ...I can aim for 100 reviews by the end of this story right? :D**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Kurt was disappointed. His plan didn't really work when he tried putting it in effect but at least he had Elagabalus on his side now. All that left was Saffra...he had no idea how he was going to communicate with a mute girl but nothing would stop him. He stopped when he heard sounds of things clashing together. He shared a glance with Elagabalus and they both increased their pace to get out of the autumn area and back to the Cornucopia.

* * *

Delphinium grunted as he narrowly avoided the incoming mace from above. It did graze across his left arm though. He winced as red welts formed. He shot a glance at Linay who was fighting Saffra. For Linay, it was pretty even. They were both swift and both were using throwing knives. A spear at the corner caught Linay's eye and she made a mental note to get to it.

Saffra dodged another thrust of the throwing knife and widened the distance between them further. She tossed a knife in Linay's direction and swore in her mind when she dodged it. Her eyes widened when she saw her opponent grab the lone spear beside her and hurl it straight at her. Saffra threw herself to the side and let out a scream when she felt something sharp pierce into her. However, another, even louder scream, completely drowned out hers.

Linay fell to the ground on her knees, whole body shaking as she stared at the stump of her hand. She couldn't help the scream tearing its way through her throat.

"A-Alec," she croaked out.

"Lin!" Delphinium shouted. "Look-"

He was cut off by Emerald swinging her mace across his legs. He managed to dodge it but his right leg still ended up being hit. He let out a gasp of pain as he felt something break. He turned to look at Linay and then turned away in the next instant. It was too horrifying. He gritted his teeth and ran. He could only save himself and not her.

It was a world of pain when a chakram sliced her other arm. Linay's vision exploded in black dots as she swayed from left to right. It was pure agony. She looked up at the careers surrounding her. Why wouldn't they kill her? She just wanted to be released from the torment she was going through. Was it so hard to grant that only wish?

She fell face first into the blood pool. She stared blankly at her fresh crimson blood mixing with the dried and dull blood. From above, she heard laughter, laughter that was mocking her and a voice reached her. It was muffled and blocked out but she could still hear it quite clearly.

"Let her bleed to death, Balus. We should teach them not to even think of stealing from us and good job Saffra. Nice work keeping her occupied so that she couldn't see Balus' attack coming."

Linay closed her eyes and let darkness wash over her. She was clinging onto a single bright thought which brightness shone over the darkness she was in. Alec. Her older brother. She now wished that she had spent more time treasuring her time with her family. It was hard for them, she knew, to see her slowly bleeding to death. Would Alec come to help her? She didn't know.

Linay couldn't help the wry smile. At least, she didn't have to deal with the pain of killing Alec if they ever did live to the point when they had to. _Alec, please win,_ she thought before finally succumbing to the darkness.

* * *

Delphinium winced when he heard the cannon. He knew without a doubt that Linay had died. It was extremely hard to admit but he knew that if he had tried just a little harder, he could have saved both of them or at least, he would have died and she would have survived. He didn't want to die or get anymore injured than he already was though. He was a coward and he hated that.

Alec jumped when Delphinium splashed into the water and let out a yowl of pain from the water seeping into his cuts.

"Delphi!" Heather shouted, rushing towards him. She dived into the water and swam to him.

She wrapped her arms around his limp body and then did a backstroke back to the island. Meanwhile, Alec was looking around frantically for any sign of Linay. He turned to Delphinium and practically shook him.

"Where's Linay?" he shouted. The cannon. Alec kept thinking of the cannon. It couldn't be that Linay was killed right? He couldn't take Delphinium's silence anymore. "Answer me!"

"Lay off him! Can't you see he's badly injured?" Heather snapped but was stopped by Delphinium weakly putting up a hand to stop her.

"Linay's dead," he croaked out.

"And you dare to come back without her," Alec seethed but he had calmed down a little. "What happened?"

He wanted to know the exact details so that if he knew that Delphinium at least tried to save her, he could...well, he didn't know what but at least his ally hadn't ditched Linay.

"Er," Delphinium started. That hesitation was all Alec needed for him to hoist the younger male up and punch him straight in the face.

Heather let out a gasp as Delphinium's body hit the sand with a solid 'thud'. She almost grabbed her trident but reminded herself that an all out attack was not what she wanted right now. Instead, she went to help Delphinium up.

"I will kill you," Alec said softly, enunciating each word clearly before turning his back on them and leaving, spear clutched tightly in his hand.

Heather glanced at Delphinium. Backstabbing Alec was really tempting but right now, she had to tend to Delphinium first. She looked at the medicinal kit they managed to get from the Cornucopia and frowned. It wasn't going to help much. She kept her trident close to her as she did her best to tend to her partner's wounds. It wouldn't do to have her guard down after Linay's death.

* * *

Shrike eyed Octavian as he came wandering into the desert. Octavian was the second person he had seen come into the desert, the first being Kurt. He had followed Kurt to see what he was doing and found out that Kurt was storing up food in one of the holes he had found. Shrike had debated the idea of killing Kurt but he wanted him to stock up on more food and supplies before dealing the final blow.

Shrike dropped silently from the tree he was in and stalked Octavian from behind. Octavian held nothing of interest to Shrike. Shrike grinned. Maybe once he killed Octavian, he could impale him. It was the first time he would be doing that to a human but still, there was a first time for everything and this first time? He wanted it.

He had to stifle his laughter. It really felt as if he was a bird of prey stalking its prey. He whispered a silent goodbye then speared Octavian straight in the chest. He twisted the spear around, hoping to make a bigger hole.

Octavian's eyes widened as he felt something large go straight into him and then pierce through him. He looked down and wasn't all that surprised to see a spearhead sticking out of his chest. It was yanked out and he collapsed onto his ground. His cannon went off with a resounding boom.

Shrike quirked an eyebrow up. Well, that was fast and quite the clean kill, he found it to be. He smiled a second later when he spotted blood seeping out of the wound. While he would like to continue decorating the area he was in with the body parts, he knew that that was hardly going to endear him to the sponsors and the Gamemakers. Instead, he settled for leaving and letting the hovercraft take care of the body.

His first kill and it felt great.

* * *

**A/N: Yep, it's Linay who died. Congratulations to d11olive, Morpheus, and Masen.**


	21. Arena Layout

**A/N: This is really a filler chapter and I updated chapter 19 with the ages of the tributes. I apologize for this chapter as I don't think it's that well written. **

**On happier news~ almost to 100 reviews!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"The program you've all been so eagerly awaiting for, the layout of this year's Hunger Games arena! Now, this year, the arena is based on an 8-point compass. The cornucopia is in the middle and eight tunnels lead to eight different sub-arenas or areas." Caesar turned around in his red swivel chair and gestured to the large screen behind him. It showed a blueprint of the map and then he used the remote control to head on to the next slide which showed a brief description of the sub-arenas along with the tributes in it.

North Area

Theme: Spring

Known tributes in it: None

South Area

Theme: Winter

Known tributes in it: None

East Area

Theme: Summer

Known tributes in it: Storm Tunestrovia (D5), Vanessa Sadfetes (D7), Baie Kaeliv (D10)

West Area

Theme: Fall

Known tributes in it: None

Northeast Area

Theme: Desert

Known tributes in it: Shrike Lanius (D5)

Southeast Area

Theme: Tundra

Known tributes in it: None

Southwest Area

Theme: Musical Room

Known tributes in it: None

Northwest Area

Theme: Lake

Known tributes in it: Heather Sea (D4), Delphinium Agatha (D4), Alec Scott (D6)

Cornucopia

Known tributes in it: Emerald Langley (D1), Saffra Kilnam (D2), Elagabalus Avitus (D2), Kurt Tesla (D12)

Caesar left the screen there for a while and gave commentary on how well he thought the remaining tributes would survive. He asked the audience about their favourite tributes as well and their enthusiastic replies were all mixed. Finally, the hour ended and the audience slowly trickled out of the auditorium. Caesar sighed and read the screen once more. Most of the sub-arenas were all so empty and at least a tribute was killed everyday.


	22. Belief, Reason to Win I

**A/N: Hey all! Back with a chapter that I'm incredibly pleased with. We get to understand the tributes a little better here. At least I hope so. If I didn't, that means I failed. I really enjoy writing the tributes you guys give me.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Aeris, I promise I will come back," January swore as he held his wife's right hand between his two hands.

Aeris' eyelids fluttered open and she stared at January. She smiled very faintly at him then closed her eyes again. January sighed and continue watching over her. True to his word, Snow had released her and she was now in the medical ward, healing. January visited Aeris everyday and often left his tasks as the stand-in Head Gamemaker to his other colleagues. Soon though, he would have to head back. But for now, he would just enjoy this little bit of time he had with Aeris.

He did wish he had been a better husband to her though.

* * *

Run, the voice urged her, run! So she ran but she could feel herself weakening. Stamina was not her strong point and right now, it felt as if she was running _into_ death rather than away. The girl jumped when a spear hit the ground beside her. She finally stopped running and turned around to face her "ally".

"Storm, you betrayer," Baie said, her voice holding no emotion at all.

Storm snorted. "Did you seriously think I was going to trust you? Please. We're already down to the final eleven. The Games is a battle of survival. Survival of the fittest."

"I'll kill you."

"No, I'll kill _you_ first."

Storm jumped backwards as she drew out a poison dart and shot it at Baie. The younger girl dodged it but the tip of it ended up grazing her skin, causing blood to well up. Baie gritted her teeth as she readied her slingshot. She grabbed the fallen dart and placed it on the band then shot it at Storm.

Storm darted away from the incoming dart and then threw yet another poison dart at Baie who ended up taking it head on this time. Luckily, Baie managed to raise her right hand to avoid being speared in the forehead.

"Where's Vanessa?" Storm asked, raising an eyebrow as she sauntered over to the girl lying on the ground.

"Who knows?" Baie answered with a smirk.

Storm came to a stop in front of Baie and readied for the final kill. The District Ten girl, seeing her chance, seized it and yanked Storm down by placing one hand on her left leg. She hit the ground with a loud 'thump' and groaned in pain. Baie pushed herself up, took hold of the dart that Storm had dropped and hovered above the girl.

Storm's dark grey eyes widened in terror as she was pinned down by Baie. Still, knowing that she should be physically stronger than her, pushed her off. The duo rolled and tumbled around in the dirt, both grappling to gain the upper hand. Storm was losing her focus extremely quickly and she knew she had to finish off Baie soon lest she completely lost her concentration. Baie could feel herself weakening quickly as she was not very good in physical combat and very soon, Storm would overpower her.

It was a race to see who could take it no longer.

Baie let out a battle cry which startled Storm. Her grip on Baie loosened and Baie took that window of opportunity to push Storm off her. She swiftly grabbed the poison dart and without a second's thought, stabbed it right into Storm's chest. The poison they had applied onto it was from a blue rabbit they had caught. They saw how effective the acid was at corrosion and held no doubts that if applied on a human, the person would die.

Storm gurgled and started foaming at the mouth. She wanted to speak, to snarl viciously at Baie but she could not. Baie's face was grim as she watched the life fade from Storm's eyes. Her mentor had told her to never turn her back on an enemy until she was sure they were dead. Finally, Storm's body fell lax under her and she stood up. The cannon went off with a resounding boom and Baie closed her eyes for a short moment then opened them up again.

She turned around and picked up her slingshot then headed back to the camp. The fight had been a blur to her, fuelled by a primitive instinct to survive. Storm had backstabbed them in the night, injuring Vanessa. Baie woke up and found out then gave chase though not immediately, making Storm think that she had killed Vanessa.

Baie turned back to watch the hovercraft pick up Storm's dead body and sighed. The Games was truly something that forced one to throw away one's reservations about killing. Baie's grip tightened on her slingshot. She would win and return to her family, her family that could not lose anymore of their own children to the Games.

* * *

Emerald played with her token; an emerald hairpin. She was leaning against the Cornucopia, keeping guard of it. Her shift had only just started, replacing Elagabalus from earlier.

Winning, victory, survival, honour, chivalry, courage, and the ability to kill in cold blood. This was what made up Emerald. The innate belief that if she adhered to this, she would survive and fulfil her life long dream of being victor. Groomed from young as a career, it had been ingrained into her head that winning the Games would be the honour of all honours. Nothing could surpass a sick battle for survival, where tributes placed in it are driven by their innermost instincts no matter how barbaric to live.

Emerald's gaze fixed on her hairpin and she closed her right hand around it. It was dear to her, a gift from her boyfriend. Her lips curled up into a sad smile as she brought the hand holding the hairpin to where her heart was located. Hardly the type of person to do deep soul-searching, Emerald thought only on the surface but it was at times like this, when the peace was so illusionary, that she allowed herself to take a step back and relax a little though not the point she completely dropped her guard.

She would achieve her goal and head back to District One to be with Ned. Somehow, she felt exhausted all of a sudden, as if she had had enough. Still, she would not give up here. She would live.

* * *

Perhaps it was foolish of him not to fear death. But in a place where death was inevitable, there was probably not much point to fear it. Elagabalus stormy grey eyes blinked as he stared into the darkness. Back in his district, he was well-known for his many conquests over both genders. One fine day, he met Nero. It was at a birthday party and possibly the biggest ever to celebrate Nero's seventh birthday. Elagabalus was taken with him on first sight.

And then, Nero had somehow wormed his way into a special spot in Elagabalus's heart. It was gradual, the building of their relationship and friendship to something...more. He showered affection after affection on him even if Nero was a tad uncomfortable with it. On reaping day, Nero had nearly volunteered but Elagabalus took his place. He would not place Nero in danger if he could help it.

Even if Elagabalus did not fear death, he still wanted to live. There were people waiting for him back home and he couldn't give up now. He still had to tell Nero and his life, Elagabalus's life, held so much more meaning now. Most people would look at the careers as if they were monsters but they were human as well. They still wanted to protect and live for someone.

* * *

Four years ago, when Saffra was ten, she did something so heinous that she was sent to the Capitol to have her tongue cut off. The experience was terrifying and for a while, she teetered between life and death. But she had lived. As part of a defence mechanism, her mind repressed the memory of what she did so wrong that she was made to undergo a punishment like that.

When she returned, the District Two citizens shut themselves off from her. All except one. Lily, her best friend. Lily was the only one who truly understood and empathized with Saffra, having gone through the same thing except it was Lily's brother. The two learned how to communicate with sign language and gradually, they grew even closer than before.

Saffra was estranged from her father for he was always at work, leaving his wife to take care of their children. Her younger sisters were too young and innocent to understand what their older sister had gone through and their mother was always too busy with Sunny and Sal to really pay mind to Saffra. Saffra's only refuge was with her friend.

As she lay awake staring at the beaded friendship bracelet from Lily, she knew then the reason why she wanted to win the 56th Games was for Lily. The one friend who had been with her through thick and thin. Saffra already knew that the first thing she would do was to ensure that Lily was safe from the reapings.

* * *

Kurt knew he was one of the rarer type of person, someone who _adored_ the Capitol and everything they stood for. He admired them and the Hunger Games. It felt so ingenious to him, using fear and oppression to run a nation. Now, as he lay in his sleeping bag and staring at nothing, he was truly experiencing the Games firsthand.

Back in District Twelve, he was the mayor's son. Everyone kept their distance from him or maybe that was because of his ways of manipulating people for information then throwing them aside once they outlived their use. It didn't make a difference to him though. When he was young, his mother was killed by the Peacekeepers. She had gone insane and stabbed someone in the eye. In the next instant, she had been gunned down, blood pooling around her. And Kurt saw everything.

Perhaps it was because of that incident that he decided that he didn't need anyone and started his cycle of using and discarding, reusing the same person if need be one way or another. Genuinely fuelled by hatred at his father, or maybe hatred was too strong a word, Kurt believed that his father caused his mother's insanity by threatening to leave her every time she did something wrong.

Truth be told, he had no real motivation to win the Games. He was already at the pinnacle. He supposed he could win even more if nothing more than just to boost his own status. He still didn't want to die just yet though. He had other things to accomplish and they could only be completed if he lived through this hell.

* * *

Alec played with the friendship bracelet his younger brother, Dante, had given him. After the death of Linay, he broke away from Delphinium and Heather. He found out that there was another, smaller island in the lake sub-arena and ended up making camp there. He literally only had to wade there which was good because he couldn't swim.

As he stared at the starry night sky that seemed so artificial, he wondered what Linay's last words or thoughts were. He felt like he had failed in his role as an older brother, allowing his younger sister to die. Id only he had insisted he went with Linay or Delphinium instead! But he had not and now, Linay was already someone who had died tragically in the Games. She was just a tribute in the eyes of everyone except those who loved and cared for her. Maybe, just maybe, if he had gone in her stead, she would still be alive. Who was to say Heather wouldn't kill her given the chance?

Alec gritted his teeth. The time for what ifs and regrets had long passed. He had to concentrate on the present, not the past. What done had been done, there was no way to unwind it. He would not let go of the grudge he held however. He would avenge Linay's death and win the Games for his deceased sister. He would become victor in honour of Linay's memory.


	23. Belief, Reason to Win II

**A/N: Back with another chapter in the span of one and a half days or so xD. Oh, and I'll be doing family interviews for the final err...six. I wanted it to be eight but I messed up when I was planning.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

It was raining blood. No, it was not rain. It was snow.

It was blood snow.

It was...snowing blood? But that didn't sound very right either. It felt more like...an omen.

"Em, are you going to kill me?"

Don't ask me that, Emerald thought to herself as her brown eyes met Ned's vivid blue ones.

"What are you doing here?" her voice was quiet. It had lost all its earlier cockiness.

"Someone kidnapped me in the middle of the night and when I woke, I was in the Cornucopia," he answered, looking rather unsure of his explanation himself.

"Do me a favour," her voice cracked. "Run before they come." they meaning the other careers and Kurt.

She knew they would kill Ned without a second thought because they had never seen him. Maybe they would wonder why someone who was not a tribute was in the Games but any extra person meant another threat.

"Why?" a stupid question.

"Just run!" Emerald cried. She knew he had no chance of surviving without the proper weapons. Why? Why were the Gamemakers so cruel?

"With y-" Ned began but got cut off. His body fell like a rock onto the snow and Emerald found herself facing Saffra.

"I thought something was weird when you suddenly ran out like that to the winter sub-arena. So you were chasing him after all," Elagabalus said. "Saffra, I'll leave Em to you. I'll go back and help Kurt." with that, he jogged off towards the tunnel leading back to the Cornucopia.

Emerald's eyes widened. They were betraying her?! No, not betray. That meant trust which none of them had. They were taking out the most dangerous person; her.

Saffra hurled one of her throwing knives at Emerald which she swatted away easily with her mace. Emerald let out a feral snarl as she charged at Saffra, club poised in the air, ready to strike. She was going to deliver an extremely painful death to Saffra and she said her thoughts aloud. Saffra couldn't respond but her smirk and mockery in her eyes said it all.

Emerald let out a battle cry as she brought the mace down on Saffra. Saffra managed to dodge it in time and grabbed the knife protruding from Ned's back. Their fight continued, neither gaining dominance. They dodged, clashed, dodged again and the cycle repeated. The cold was getting to them as well and their once sharp movements became slow and sluggish. Finally, Saffra managed to find an opening and struck.

Emerald screamed in pain as she fell and hit the snow with a muffled 'thump'. Saffra grimaced as she delivered the finishing blow. Slowly, the number of tributes left were narrowing down. Emerald's cannon went off and Saffra collapsed in relief. She knew she was no longer fit to fight anymore. She looked up at the dark sky and saw that it was lightening. Morning was coming soon. The end to the night...was an end to a tribute's death.

She pushed herself up and started limping back to the Cornucopia. Emerald had managed to injure her left leg. Saffra looked back at Emerald's corpse resting side by side with her boyfriend's body. Their blood had soaked the surrounding snow scarlet.

Heather warmed her hands with a fire. The weather was gradually getting colder and colder and the clothes she wore barely provided any warmth. She had a feeling the Gamemakers were trying to push everyone together for another bloodbath but none of them was willing to leave their temporary sanctuary.

She played with her token from Daphne. The bracelet with a whistle shaped in the form of a fish. Heather mulled over how Daphne managed to get hold of the bracelet. It was her brother's, when he went to participate in the 49th Games. Truthfully, Heather had no real goal to win the Games. Her brother was dead, her parents and older sister had passed away as well.

She was all alone.

Heather looked over at Delphinium's sleeping form. He was lying on his back and his right arm was over his eyes. As if he was shutting out something he didn't want to see. She smiled a little. She had grown a little attached to him. He was the first person, besides her family (though family didn't count to her since family was supposed to treat her normally), to see her as a person. She didn't love him but she rather liked him. She crawled into the sleeping bag beside his and continued staring at the silver bracelet. Maybe, instead of winning, she could sacrifice herself for him. Delphinium had people waiting for him at home. She had none. With that thought, Heather drifted off into sleep, knowing that Delphinium was really awake.

Delphinium was listening to the crackle of the fire. He couldn't find the will to sleep even though he knew he had to. Linay's death and his cowardice still plagued him. He snorted to himself. If he was going to feel this bad, he should have volunteered himself to be killed then. But he couldn't. He couldn't leave Lily and Daphne behind. Lily already took the death of _her_ pretty badly even though seven years had passed.

He didn't think he could consider being Victor a victory though. One needed the twenty-three other people who had been thrown into this dog-eat-dog world to determine oneself as the last one standing. To win, one had to leave a trail of blood behind them. He opened his eyes and looked at his sleeping partner. Her back was to the fire and she was facing him, lips partially parted.

Eventually, he would have to kill her too but could he? He knew he didn't have much of a choice though. In order to win, to survive, and to return to his family, he had to. Nevertheless, it really seemed...wrong.

Shrike stared down from the Joshua tree that was currently his temporary residence at the small scorpions scuttling everywhere. His token, a feather from the very bird he was named for, was clutched tightly in his left hand. Did he care about winning? Not really. There wasn't really anything to go back to back home. His mother was dead and he was kind of estranged from his father. Everyone back at the district distanced themselves from him and he was usually outside, watching shrikes do their art of impaling.

Still, he supposed winning could be nice. He didn't mind death either though there was still that desire of not dying. Live or die, it was all the same to him. Living was just on extended time and dying...everyone dies one day. It was just a matter of when they pass on.

Shrike chuckled as he swung off the tree branch and landed on the ground, nearly losing his balance. He decided to create some traps and eat something. He was running out of food and the nights were getting colder and colder. He had a suspicion that the Gamemakers were pushing the remaining tributes to the Cornucopia where the Capitol audience could enjoy another bloodbath and this time, the deciding one.

Vanessa gazed at the orange flames. Occasionally, sparks would jump out and then touch the ground before sizzling out. Baie was sleeping, recuperating from her earlier fight so Vanessa was tasked with being guard. It would be so easy to kill Baie in her sleep but Vanessa had a feeling she would need her in time.

In her hand, was a necklace with an antique half heart. There was no inscription but it meant the world and more to Vanessa. Her brother, Adrian, had the other half. But he was gone, lost to the bloodbath. She hadn't managed to retrieve the other half. What she did know, however, was that Adrian was still with her in spirit. Wasn't that what they had agreed on? The words had not been spoken but they understood each other.

_"Always be with each other in spirit."_

Vanessa closed her hand around the token and her jaw set. She had made her decision. She would win the Games. She would emerge as Victor. For her brother and for herself. And she would avenge his death. But if she died...she would still be with Adrian in the end.

"I'm coming home," she whispered.

Baie had lost three siblings to the Games. Caleb- the 50th, Paige- the 52nd, and finally, Hunter- the 53rd. Tragedy after tragedy, death after death. And Paige's and Hunter's were consecutive as well. For a long time, the Kaelivs were grieving. All except Oden, Baie's older brother by two years. And now, she was the one being reaped and thrown into the blood tainted arena.

As she lay awake though pretending to be asleep, she thought of the people she had killed. She felt no remorse. It was essential. They all probably had families waiting for them back home but so did she. She wasn't sure for the careers but it was clear as day to Baie. She would get out of this hellhole.

She would be victorious and give a life of luxury to her siblings and father. Baie's greyish-blue eyes stared up at the lightening sky. Dawn was coming. A new day, a fresh cycle for things never stayed the same in the Hunger Games.

Change.


	24. Burning

**A/N: Back with another chapter! 100 reviews! Thank you all so much! I used POVs for this and it's death centered. Heather's part felt unnecessarily long to me but my muse was pushing me in the direction I used for this chapter. **

**Enjoy! (This feels sadistic when you think about the context of this chapter)**

* * *

**Saffra's POV, D2**

_Lily..._

It hurt. It hurt so much. Something from my heart felt as if it was ripping my very heart apart. I wanted to curl up and hug myself. I wanted someone to tell me that it was going to be okay. I wanted someone...to tell me that I _was going to live_.

I wanted to cry and to scream but I could not. How did I get to the winter arena? I could not remember. I only vaguely remembered Elagabalus...turning against me, was it? Everything felt so hazy already. The Games, what came before it; the trainings, the chariots, the train ride, and the reapings. The only concrete thing was my family and Lily waiting for me back home. I wanted to go back to them but lying in the snow, slowly bleeding to death, that desire was denied of me.

_Sunny, Sal, m-mommy._

Tears rolled down my cheeks and froze before they could even reach my chin. I raised my hands to my eyes and stared at the stump that was my right hand. It got cut off. The natural reaction should be shock but I felt nothing. It was as if even the cold was numbing me to my own emotions. But I had not forgotten my personal oath to myself.

But I had broken it.

_Lily,_ I choked out. _I'm so sorry, I couldn't protect you._

Why, why couldn't I win when the only thing I ever wanted was to protect not only Lily, but my siblings, from the horror of the Hunger Games? The ache in my heart...it was eating me up. My eyelids fluttered open and I stared up at the dark sky before closing my eyes.

_I'm...sorry...forgive me?_

* * *

**Heather's POV, D4**

"Over the swell of the sea's crest, over, over."

I looked down at my arms that cradled Delphi's head. When had I taken to calling Delphinium Delphi, I wonder? But he was already gasping for breath...so, I supposed, it didn't make much of a difference. I brushed away the bangs covering his face away and stared at his half lidded eyes. His body felt cold to the touch. It chilled me. That my own partner was dying before my very eyes and I couldn't even do anything about it. It frustrated me as well. And yet...I didn't feel the need or want for revenge.

"Delphi, Delphi, stay with me," I murmured, blinking back my tears but they still fell onto his cheeks anyway. "Think of Daphne, Lily, the family who needs you!"

Alec had come so suddenly and threw his spear straight into Delphi. And then he ran away, managing to retrieving the spear after a half-hearted effort on my part to kill him and avenge Delphi. I guessed that Delphi's left lung was punctured since the blood was soaking through the part of his shirt where it covered his left lung.

"Heather," he called weakly. He sounded so faint.

"Yes?"

"Kill me," he begged.

I didn't answer. I wanted to look away from his beseeching eyes but something compelled me to stare, look, and remember it for the rest of my life, or what was left of it anyway. Euthanasia. Of course. Delphi couldn't fight properly if he was so badly injured and there was nothing on hand to heal him.

"I...can't."

_Are you just going to sit there, cradle him, and watch him slowly bleed to death which could take days? Are you just going to put him through this cruelty? Why won't you just release him from this pain already? _

"Shut up!" I screamed. I didn't want to hear them now.

"Heather, please. Didn't Daphne tell you to kill me if I really could no longer make it?"

Stop! Stop pleading! I don't want to hear it. I don't want to see someone else die ever again. I couldn't even see how my brother died.

"I can't do mercy killing. I can't even kill!" now it was my turn to beg him not to put me through this agony of killing him to relieve him of the pain.

"Are you afraid that I'll scream? Then drown me, I won't scream." why was he being so gentle to me?! "But if you won't...then I'll kill myself."

"What?"

"I'll relieve you of your pain...and mine."

I shook my head frantically and lunged to grab his left hand that was reaching for the trident beside him. He managed to dodge my grasp somehow and grabbed the trident. My eyes widened. I didn't want to admit it but I was afraid. If Delphinium died, I would be all alone. I didn't have anyone to go back to. Why couldn't _I_ take his place instead?! Then I could join my brother wherever he was.

"Delphinium!" I screamed.

In my haste, I had accidentally let go of him. I didn't know where he got the strength to lift the trident and I was spellbound by the fluidity of his motion- lifting the trident and then slowly plunging it down. Or was it actually shock? That he would so willingly commit suicide.

"Do-" my 'don't' died in my throat when I saw the trident's head hover above his chest.

"Heather, win the Games, all right?" and then the trident slid right into his chest, as if it was meant to be there the entire time.

His cannon went off. I was still kneeling on the ground, fire crackling beside me, sparks jumping around.

"N-no," I whispered but it was too late already.

'Come back' wouldn't bring him back to life. 'Come back' wouldn't make my brother reach out and comfort me. 'Come back' wouldn't make any of the dead tributes resurrect again. 'Come back' was pointless. The night sky was lit up with the insignia of Panem then and the national anthem played then the dead tributes were flashed.

The girl from District One and Saffra from Two and finally, Delphinium from my district, Four. I turned my gaze back to Delphi's lifeless body. Would he want me to kill Alec? But Delphi committed suicide. But Alec caused the injury in the first place.

I whimpered and turned my back to Delphi. I stood up and entered the lake. The hovercraft would come and pick him up when I wasn't there. It was ridiculous but I felt like swimming, as if it would sooth me.


	25. Beginning of the End I

**A/N: An update! Yes, the chapter is short. I'm going to update within this week again since I have a one week holiday :D.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"I'm...sorry," Vanessa whispered.

Her poison-tipped spearhead hovered above Baie's chest. They had a grapple earlier, started by Baie. Vanessa managed to get the upper hand and now, she was about to kill her.

"Then don't kill me if you're sorry!" Baie shouted.

"You killed him didn't you?!" Vanessa screamed as the spearhead dropped even closer to Baie's chest.

"Who?!"

"Rian! You killed Rian!" it was a hysterical Vanessa who wildly accused Baie of such an act.

Baie was about to respond when it struck her. Her would-be killer had been driven mad. Whatever she wanted to say was already lost however. Vanessa had plunged the spearhead straight into Baie's chest. The cannon went off.

"You killed him. You killed him. You killed Rian. You killed my Rian!" Vanessa shrieked.

Tears dripped down her cheeks as she raised the spear once more and stabbed the same place as before. An anguished howl ripped through her throat. Unsteady, she stood up and wobbled a little. Entire body shivering, she started to cut up Baie's body. Blood splattered the dry ground.

Finally, she collapsed beside the corpse. Blood soaked her suit but she ignored it. Eyes empty, she reached out to touch Baie's cheek, smearing blood all over it.

"My Rian," she whispered.

Vanessa pushed herself up and grabbed her spear. She cradled her left arm to herself. Baie had managed to injure her in the earlier struggle, injecting poison into her. Whimpering, Vanessa stumbled away from the body. She let out a shriek when a booming voice sounded in the arena all of a sudden.

"Tomorrow morning, a Feast shall commence at the Cornucopia. There, we have everything you need."

Vanessa waited for the person to speak further but there was no more voices to be heard. She swallowed. This was it. The final bloodbath.

* * *

"Aeris, tomorrow is the day."

Aeris' eyelids fluttered open and she shifted her head to face January. Her hand appeared from beneath the blanket and searched around for his hand. He gave it to her and she gripped it tightly. As tightly as she could anyway. She was still weak.

"I...see." her voice could barely be considered a whisper.

They lapsed back into silence. January started to stroke her hand tenderly and watched her try to keep herself awake for him. Finally, she closed her eyes and her breathing slowed. January stayed there, watching her sleep. He turned to look at the mug sitting on the table beside her bed. It was white and had a poorly drawn heart on it. It was coloured in red. He had given it to Aeris on her seventeenth birthday. At that time, it meant nothing but a joke. Now, it was something else entirely different.

January stood to leave but her voice stopped him.

"Jan...come back to me. I have something to tell you but I'll only tell when you come back."

"You talk as if it is a certain that I will come back alive," he replied with a tired chuckle.

"Of course." he could hear the smile in her voice. "After all, were we not one of the seven victors of the 49th Games?"


	26. Beginning of the End II

**A/N: This took me forever to write because a) I had the perfect scene in my mind which was so tearjerking it made me cry [that and I was listening to a sad song as well] and when I started writing it, it didn't happen the way I wanted, b) Work. Work. Work. Schoolwork after schoolwork kind of impeded my progress as well. But oh well, I finished it! And I'll appreciate it if you read the AN below.**

**I'm not sure what is a suitable song for this as I wrote it to a bunch of different songs but since the first time I knew how to write this was with this song: watch?v=4qi2e-jMSPM&feature=BFa&list=FLj6Q0I40gCD0hcByVKKwfeg ...listen to it while reading and your reading experience might increase.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Aeris stared at the screen placed in front of her. Snow had very kindly put a screen in her ward to allow her to watch the final part of the Games- the Feast...played differently. Her hand brushed against her stomach and she shifted her gaze down to it. Her taut lips softened into a smile as she caressed the very small, nearly unnoticeable bump.

"Jan...you have to come back," she whispered. "Our child needs you."

**January's POV**

The blood sloshing on the ground reminded me of my own Hunger Games. The setting was rather different though. I had just killed a tribute and she dropped into the pond. The last thing I expected was the pond to become so stained with blood that I couldn't even see the bottom. Now, as I stared out at the entrance to the lake sub-arena, I wondered whose blood would be added to the Cornucopia.

I glanced around to take in my surroundings. The space I was in had been partitioned by two forcefields. One on my left and the other on my right. The same went for Cyrena, Ivy, Edel, Weiss, and Janaury. This was to prevent us from running to help each other and having the tributes interfere with our own personal fights. I say personal because...we were all related to each tribute we were facing in one way or another.

It didn't take long for Heather to come and I focused on her. I registered her surprised expression. Taking her moment of surprise to my advantage, I moved to strike first but her plaintive sounding voice asked me, "J-Jan? What...what are you doing here? N-no. Who are you?!"

That hurt, rather unexpectedly. It seemed as if Heather didn't recognize me...no, she did. She was just trying to not recognize me. I stood up straight again and sucked in a deep breath. Ever since we were told that we were to enter the arena to fight our beloveds to the death, I started to prepare myself mentally but it still didn't work.

"I'm your brother. Don't you re-" my breath caught. _Remember_. I wanted to say remember, not recognize. "-cognize me?"

"He's dead...I...I didn't see him die in his Games but I know he's dead! He never came back," she replied.

_But I'm right here_. Heather...I still remembered the fight I had with her the day before I got reaped. It was over something rather childish now that I think about it. Too late, regret coursed through. I knew she recognized me but she was denying it because...if she killed me, she would have ended up killing her own brother. And if I killed her...I would have killed my own sister.

I had two choices. One was to make it easier for the two of us by agreeing with her and saying that I was indeed someone else and the other...the other was to force her to admit that I was her brother.

We both regarded each other steadily, hands gripping the tridents tightly. Selfishly, I wanted the latter. But...her eyes were pleading with me to allow her this denial, to relieve her- both of us, of this pain. I took one step forward and raised my trident. I would.

**Heather's POV**

I wasn't sure who struck first; me or him. Our tridents clashed together, creating a clang that reverberated around us. January's trident stabbed at me but I managed to parry it. We both took several steps back and then our tridents clashed again.

Again and again our tridents met. It felt like an unending stalemate. We both knew each other too well. Before he...ended up being reaped (there, I admitted it), we would spar with each other all day long beside a lake. We weren't careers, our parents (or father) deciding to keep us away from the horror of the Hunger Games. They were riding on the slim chances that we would not be reaped. The slim chances became slimmer after my mother's death because we started having to draw tessarae.

I gritted my teeth as I blocked another blow from him and after forcing his trident away from me, charged at him. He barely managed to sidestep my attack but I grazed his side. However, his trident was already raised behind me. Panic spiked in me. I had gotten careless! But instead of feeling the stabbing pain that was sure to come, I only felt the tips of his trident grazing across my back.

I tumbled onto the blood-filled ground and stared up at January. Why...why had he not killed me right then and there? Our eyes met each other and I saw the pain in his. Despite us not openly admitting to each other our relation, we still knew it deep down. And that was stopping us. The knowledge was stopping us. ...I wondered what mine reflected.

"I'm sorry," he mouthed to me and drove the trident down.

I rolled away at the last second. I could have just stayed there, allowed myself to die but something in me wanted to survive. I jumped up and grabbed my trident off the ground that I had lost grip of earlier. I raised it in front of me and backed away from him. The hand gripping the trident was shaking, my entire body was quivering. Tears pricked at my eyes and I hurriedly blinked them away. I could not let them obstruct my vision.

Once again, our tridents clashed against each other. As children, we would hit and taunt each other. We would be yammering out nonsensical cries that promised death. We would be letting loose battle cries. But it was all done in good fun. At the end of our sparring, we would lie on the grass and watch the sun set. Never did the thought of sparring against each other cross our minds. Not even once.

And here we were, fighting. Not just for our lives though; we were fighting for the lives of other people. Or in my case, the lives that had faded away from me. My mother, father, the brother I used to know and Delphinium. I had nothing to live for anymore but I had them. I would live and carry on their will. Their lives would be my driving force.

Once again, I found myself lying on the floor, blood lapping at me. Our eyes met again, I could see my panting self reflected in his darkened orbs. This time round, he had placed his left foot on my right arm to prevent me from grabbing my trident. His trident hovered above me. The agony in his bluish-green orbs was painful to even look at but I did not look away. And yet, within them, there was an unwavering resolve...to kill me.

It was then that I realized that I was processing all this too calmly. I was internalizing everything, trying to rationalize everything. It was unlike me, I was irrational. I did not process things calmly.

"Why are you fighting?!" I burst out, tears falling. I knew then that the reason for my being out-of-character was because everything in my "reunion" with January was all too surreal.

"Why am I fighting?" he asked me then trailed off as his gaze turned distant. My free hand slipped under my back and tried to search out for the dagger that I had brought with m. "The question is more of...who am I fighting for that I would be so willing as to go as far as killing my own sister. It's...for Aeris. I love you, Heather, I really do but Aeris...she's far more important to me right now. She has something to tell me."

His gaze became even more distant at that. As if he was mulling over what she could possibly have to tell him. My tears were falling faster now. Not because that he had chosen his district partner over me but because of what I wanted to do next. His gaze hardened then, as he returned back to reality and I froze.

When he smiled, it was sad. "I think I know what it is though. She's been my wife for six years and we probably spent an entire lifetime in the arena together. I saw the bump, I saw the baby bump. I don't really want to believe it but...she's pregnant."

He sounded as if he was trying so hard to believe it. Tears were welling up in his own eyes too. For a long moment, none of us moved or spoke. It was like we were both trying to preserve this last moment before we faced the harshness of reality. I let out a small sob. When I was nine, I dreamed of a world of happiness and bliss spent with my brother and father. When his Games ended and he never came back, our father fell into depression and then committed suicide, leaving me with my grandparents. Now, I was sixteen and was disillusioned to a world that I wished for when I was nine.

...instead, I yearned for the time before the Hunger Games tore my entire family apart. I desired the innocence that my brother and I held.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," I whispered over and over again.

Tears blurred my vision. Just as well, I couldn't bear to look at what I was doing. His shocked expression was so vivid in my mind that it felt as if I was viewing my own arm moving even though my eyes were squeezed shut. His cry of pain was piercing as my dagger plunged into his side- and into his lung by the sound of how he gurgled. At the same time, something sharp pierced right into my very chest and I let out my own scream of agony.

Something splashed into the water beside me. I opened my eyes again. Bluish-green orbs stared into my own turquoise ones. Our hands reached out for each other and we grasped each other's hands lightly. He smiled faintly at mine. I was well aware of the tears streaming down from our own eyes. My own heart was washed over with grief and it felt as if it was being ripped into half.

"I'm sorry too," he whispered.

The grip on my hand started to slacken bit by bit. The same was happening to me. Slowly, we were losing each other. Together in death...I always liked to think that January and I would die together. I didn't know what I would do without him after all. I just never imagined that it would be like that.

"What would you name your child?" I asked then drew in a shuddering breath. It was getting harder and harder to breathe. I felt like I was suffocating.

"Mm...something to do with the sea. Seacrest perhaps?"

"That's a silly name. You should name him Finn or something." Finn was the name my parents wanted to give me if I turned out to be male.

He smiled faintly once more. His entire face twisted into an agonized expression when he shifted his head a little closer to mine. I just realized that he was dying the same way as Delphinium. He pressed his forehead against mine and then exhaled heavily. I didn't mind his forehead on mine. It reminded me of what we used to as kids.

"Yes...yes I should," he answered softly before his eyelids fluttered shut.

His grip on my hand went limp and I saw the rise and fall of his chest start to slow. His entire body started to go limp. I found myself wanting to slap him awake. To just do anything that would wake him. I wanted to shake him but I didn't have the strength to. My strength was ebbing away bit by bit.

"Jan, Jan, Jan, Jan. Noooooooo."

I pushed myself up with my free arm. I wanted to let go of his hand but I wanted to hold it at the same time. I held it. After a great deal of grunting and pushing, I finally managed to lever myself up. The trident was getting in my way so I yanked it out of my chest and watched blood spurt out of my chest. I didn't have much time left.

I let out a cry of pain as I landed back on the ground but I had gotten myself where I wanted to be. Hand still gripping as tightly as it could on his limp and chilling hand, I pressed my lips against his forehead.

"I love you," I whispered.

Three words I never got to hear spoken solely from his lips. It would usually be accompanied with something else. He never expressed his love through words but through actions instead. His steadfast and undying love and loyalty...loyalty to his wife, Aeris.

My breaths started to come in short gasps. I was lacking oxygen. Finally, I started to relax myself, staring at the now dripping blood drip from his wound. Our blood could easily be identified; fresh and scarlet in contrast to the dull crimson. Blood was thicker than water. The saying didn't exactly match the situation if I thought about it but...our blood was mixing together, forming an inseparable bond. I hoped his wife would be able to raise their child alone. An insurmountable remorse surged in me. It was my fault. If I had not killed him...but the time for regrets was long past.

I closed my eyes.

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**A/N: And that concludes the end of Heather and her brother. Hohoho. I would love to make Finnick their child but I did some calculations and he wouldn't exactly be fourteen by his 65th Games...that and I don't want to mess with the canon too much.**

**I'll love it if you guys go to my profile and vote on the poll there! It'll help me with my next SYOT and if you guys have any ideas for the arena for it, just PM me :D. The prequel and sequel (SYOT) will be posted after WLBP ends. I'm having 8 bloodbaths which are going to be made by me. Which leaves 16 free slots for you all. I'll have the list of taken spots by the bloodbaths by the end of tomorrow (no school. Yay!) and if you're interested, shoot me a PM.**

**Darn, this spell check FF has kind of scares me a little.**


	27. Beginning of the End III

**A/N: Back! Sorry for the long wait. I was busy with my exams and had to go on a bit of hiatus to prepare for it but it's now done. Look forward to daily updates until Friday (hopefully). Sorry if this chapter is ridden with mistakes because I was, still am, extremely exhausted when I was typing it. **

**Enjoy!**

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**Cyrena's POV**

Once, back before I volunteered for the 49th Games, I was ordered to execute a 'betrayer' in front of my entire class. That girl went against the traditions of District Two and soon caused enough of a ruckus to gain the death penalty. As she was a student of the training academy though, the execution had to be done in it and by either the top female or male student.

The top male student, Leo, refused and then I had to do it. I accepted it gladly and on that stage marked only by deaths, I raised my sword and brought it down on her. Before she died however, she told me this one thing:

"You can't escape from it. None of us can!"

I killed her and discarded what she thought. Her parents were later killed as well.

Well, that was then though. I never really gave it much thoughts after all these years but now, as I wait for my cousin to come and face me, her words come back to me.

All of us were stuck in a loop. People in the Capitol, tributes, the Gamemakers, everyone. Tributes enter the Games, the others watch, the Games end and life goes back to our own defined normal. Rinse and repeat, and we're presented with this.

...not that it really made much of a difference now though. Somehow, I already knew I was going to die. I was crowned Victor of the 49th Hunger Games but I am not a true Victor. Six others stand with me as Victors.

I lifted my sword into the air and held it before me. In front of me, Elagabalus became visible. The two of us regarded each other with almost an air of...curiosity.

"Rena," he greeted. "Or has your name changed?"

"It's Cyrena now."

He smirked and then tensed.

"Still using your chakrams, I see," I remarked as I bent my knees just a little.

"Of course!" his tone was almost cheerful. Almost. We both knew it was a fight to death, unlike any other sparring we had done with each other which now seemed like child's play.

I shifted my grip on my sword to allow for easier mobility. I would definitely not have any regrets killing him. We both did hate each other after all, little as it is.

He quirked an eyebrow up, as if to ask, 'Who first?'

I struck first.

**Elagabalus' POV**

Rena and I used to spar with each other. She was always the one dragging me into all those spars and each time, she won. It was only because she excelled in fighting though. When it came down to a battle of wits and subtlety, it was I who would win every time. Sadly, this battle was a fight to the death and not one that involved wits. Though...I could still trick her and get out alive.

I didn't have any chance to speak however. Blow after blow rained down and I could only fend them off. Her lips were pressed into a thin line and her eyes were narrowed. She was unreadable but the viciousness in each blow was more than enough to tell me she wanted to kill me.

"You're furious," I grunted as I took a few steps back.

A look of surprise crossed her face and she stumbled back a few steps, Her balance was exceptional as always however, and she stood straight. I allowed myself a small satisfactory smile.

"And?" she asked.

"Anger blinds," I quipped.

"You!" she seethed.

Ah, her buttons were just too easy to press. I hurled a chakram at her and then while her attention was drawn to it, I closed the distance between us and shot the other chakram vertically at her right arm. She drew up her sword and managed to strike away the first chakram but the second one embedded itself into her arm.

She let out a cry of pain. I seized this opportunity to grab my chakram lying on the ground and then put more distance between us. She yanked out the chakram with her left hand. She threw it at me but I caught it with relative ease. Her left hand was, as always, weak.

"This will end it," I swore.

"No." her voice was surprisingly firm. "It won't." I suddenly got the feeling we were talking about two entirely different things.

I warily watched her stand up. The most logical thing to do was to kill her while she was weakened and had yet to regain her strength. Yet, there was still something so...strong about the tone that it swayed me just a little. I gritted my teeth. Even after seven years, she still held a bit of sway over me. Was this her charisma, or was this something else?

"It won't ever end. This constant cycle of-" she started coughing and blood came out. Odd. The injury I inflicted on her shouldn't have done so much damage. "-being chosen and then being sent to die."

She had a point though it was remarkably moot in the current light of the situation. I went straight back into a fighting position and prepared to once and for all, end this.

"You still can talk and move," I remarked. Admittedly, I was a little curious about why...or how.

The blood lost from the deep cut should have at least rendered her immobile but there she was, still talking and lifting that sword up.

She smiled though it was tired. "I'm not a Victor of the 49th Games for nothing."

I shrugged. Her word usage was interesting though- 'a'. She talked like there was more than one. More than one...I looked around my surroundings quickly but could see nothing else. My eyes widened. Since when did my surroundings turn pitch black?

"Ah, you figured it out. It's a forcefield. A forcefield is separating you from the other tributes and it blocks it out as well. It'll only be released once at least two tributes are left standing." Rena let out a weak chuckle. "Will you be one of them?"

"I'll find out after this," I answered.

I hurled my chakram at her and she deflected it with her sword. She charged at me and swung the sword at me. I blocked it with my remaining chakram and swore in my mind. I should have seen ahead that letting loose of one chakram just like that was foolish.

Each blow exchanged left us panting. Rena's stamina was excellent unlike mine. The bleeding of her wound took a great toll on her though. As for me, I was running out of steam. And finally, when I faltered for just a short moment, she struck. Her sword pierced my gut and the pain that followed was...excruciating.

A scream managed to work its way out of my throat as Rena dug the sword in deeper. Finally, she yanked it out and stumbled backwards, her blade dripping with blood. I doubled over and ended up collapsing onto the floor. The blood on the floor sloshed upon impact and then, there was this thread of fear that wasn't there before.

"How does it feel like to be facing the threat of death? It's scary, isn't it? This fear that plagues you." Her laughter is hollow. I could feel the tip of her blade ghosting my back. "I...don't want to kill you I guess. You are still my cousin, after all."

Except we hated each other. I grunted, rolled over and then tossed my chakram at her face. At the same time, she struck and drove the sword deep into my chest. Our screams interlaced and I heard a solid thud. I turned my head to the right and wished I hadn't. My chakram had ended up embedding itself into Rena's neck. Crimson liquid flowed from the wound and I closed my eyes.

Gathering the last bit of my strength, I pulled out the sword and then it clattered to the ground. I let out a few raspy breaths before closing my eyes.

So...this was how everything ended.


	28. Beginning of the End IV

**A/N: Haha. Hahaha. Hahahaha. I did it! **

**Warnings: Suicide, horror, possible incoherence, and possible mincing of characters.**

**Enjoy!**

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**Janaury's POV**

I suppose now was the time to say that January and I weren't twins at all. Edel and Weiss were the only twins out of this little miserable parade made out of us, the seven Victors from the 49th Games. I would also launch into an entire history lesson on what occurred in my Games but I was currently focusing on something more pressing at hand. Besides, I'm pretty sure you'd come to learn the whole story in time.

From the seventh district of Panem, I was Aury Pan. Currently, I am Janaury... I don't have a last name. After my Games, Snow forced us to undergo plastic surgery and changed our names though we still retained a fair bit of us. It was enough to make an onlooker overlook though. I supposed it differed for our own blood relatives. I would find out anyway, considering that Vanessa was my niece and we were rather close.

I groaned and then covered my face with my right hand. I stared up into the darkness through the gaps between my fingers. The stench of blood was still strong, nearly overwhelming. I was used to it though. Stepping into the Hunger Games as a tribute and a Gamemaker was the same as stepping into another world. This world was one tainted with blood.

I smirked a little and let out a dark chuckle. Maybe I should have just killed myself in my Games. I did have the chance after all. Though, I'd say that January and Aeris have it the worst. It was not only then. Even right now, it was still happening. I mentally cursed this forcefield. I wanted to see what was going on. I hated being in the dark, literally. I refused to be taken down by my fear however. I would overcome it again...but how many times could I overcome what was actually a trauma?

I took my hand off my face and listened hard for footsteps or any sound that hinted to Vanessa. There was none _at first_. And then, a slosh and a small 'eep'. There! Without hesitation, I swung one of my two axes (I brought an extra for insurance) into the darkness where I heard the sound.

" A-aaaahhhh!"

A grin worked its way to my lips. Jackpot. Sure, she was-is my niece. But the desire to live won out. Wasn't that how I survived anyway? Repeated betrayals, backstabbing, lies and deception- that was how I lived. I didn't play by the book. After all, if I could cheat, I would cheat. Ultimately, my own live was the most precious to me. The others...were all expendable.

**Vanessa's POV**

I was careful or at least I tried to be. The Cornucopia's area seemed darker than before. Much darker. I clutched my spear tightly and took one cautious step forward, unsure if I might end up bumping into something. I let out a soft sigh of relief and then lowered my spear a little.

Unfortunately, the end landed on the ground and my foot hit it, allowing the blood to let out a loud sloshing sound. Against my will, I let out an 'eep' at the sudden feel of cold blood lapping against my ankles (there was a little skin between where my suit ended and the shoes I wore).

Before I could do anything else, I heard a whizzing sound and then, pain. Something had lodged itself in my right arm.

"A-aaaahhhh!"

I could feel the maniacal grin directed my way. Whatever thoughts I had disappeared in the next instant though. Immediately, something else assaulted my left foot. Another scream tore through my throat. Tears sprung to my eyes.

My arm. My right arm. Was it gone? I could still feel it though. I tried moving it a little and then it was pure agony. I fell to my knees and felt streaks of pain burst forth from my injured foot.

"Ah, I suggest you try not to move too much. I've already cut your tendon in the left foot and you'll probably bleed to death. You'll also probably relieve a _lot_ more pain if you cut your arm off!" The person who spoke sounded cheerful. Too cheerful. It seemed as if he was _laughing_ at my pain.

I took out the knife sticking out of my foot and tossed it into one corner. I managed to yank out the axe in my arm and it dropped to the ground.

"It's one-sided, don't you think?" And finally, he came into view. Brown locks of hair, forest green eyes and tanned skin- or at least how I remembered him. His hair colour had changed to blond and his eyes were now electric blue. He smiled at me. "It's nice to meet you again, Nessa."

His eyes drifted downwards to my injuries and then to the weapons. He raised his hands and then let out polite applause.

"You live! Congratulations." It was sarcastic. He brought up his other axe and rested it on his shoulder. "How have you been doing?"

Uninjured hand gripping my right arm, I managed to stand up but had to lean on my spear as best as I could without impaling myself on it.

"How can you be so conversational?" I whispered. It was almost...insane.

Laughter burst out from him and he wiped away tears. "Didn't you hear what they said for the 49th Games? 'The arena will be unlike anything you've ever seen before! The arena will be the true horror! Dreams shall be broken like never before!' And then you saw the arena, didn't you? Or were you hiding from the television, playing with Rian? If you were part of it..." His tone was laced with bitterness. "_Everyone_ broke. Well, not everyone I guess. We changed. But we all came out of it worse for wear."

I flinched. That Hunger Games was the most terrifying I had ever seen. It left me with nightmares though I had a feeling I wasn't the only one with them. The Gamemakers really pushed their limits with it. Compared to this, this arena was much better. The only truly frightening one was the Cornucopia.

Then, realization hit me.

"You killed Rian," I whispered.

"Did I? He died in the bloodbath, Nessa. He died at the hands of someone else. Don't blame it on me."

"Liar!" I screeched. "The bloodbath has always been engineered to kill at least eight to twelve people! Sometimes more, sometimes less. _You_ created the arena. You're one of the Gamemakers, aren't you?!"

It was the only logical explanation. I never saw Aury's death onscreen so never once believed he was truly dead. But he never once came back either. There was no way he could have lived in the other districts and the only place left was the Capitol but why would the Capitol want to host a person who wasn't the claimed Victor of the 49th Games?

"Correct. Let me tell you this." Before he spoke any further though, he glanced around then shrugged. "They're probably going to censor this then kill me if I come out of this alive. So, whatever. There were seven Victors in my Games. That was the actual second twist."

I gasped and would have stumbled back a few steps if it wasn't for the fact that I had placed too much pressure on my left foot and I felt a jolt of pain. I looked up from my foot to see Aury's expression. He looked...concerned.

"I don't get you at all," I told him. "You...want to kill me right? Then why don't you?"

I had seen his Games. How he so mercilessly slaughtered anyone in his way, how he killed other tributes like their lives meant nothing to him and how he murdered his own alliance in their sleep. By the end of the Games, he had racked up the highest kill count, beside the girl from District Six.

He was, I had to admit, a little insane. Except I never saw that sight of him back home. He was the kind and gentle uncle that loved his family. He was the only male in his family of sisters, their parents having died when the youngest was only two. But occasionally, when I was with them, I would see shades of insanity. Once, I saw Aury crying by himself.

I took another careful look at his face. His eyes still held the same emotion. It was a little hard to decipher at first, and even harder for strangers, since he hid it well but for me who had always seen the same thing over and over again, I soon knew what it was. Loneliness and abandonment. He had an older sister but she was always so busy with them.

"You...know how I feel right? I cried when Rian died. Alone of course. How did it feel? Losing a sibling...your twin even, to someone else?" He sounded so hollow and tired. It was as if he just wanted this all to end.

I picked up my spear with my left hand and wielded it best as I could. My right hand was my dominant hand. I finally understood Aury.

"I do," I answered softly. "It felt...I can't even begin to describe it. But it was as if this black hole of grief wanted to swallow me up."

Aury took his axe off his shoulder and held it in front of him. "I just want to say this. It's definitely not my atonement but...I did what I have to do." His eyes narrowed. "There should not be grace or mercy in this world."

I swallowed and thought about what he said. Finally, I shook my head. "No, there should be. Without grace and mercy, we'll be a bit like monsters, don't you think?"

He laughed. "Perhaps so. But when you kill someone wilfully, isn't that being a monster already?"

"Then that depends on our own definition," I replied.

After that, we charged at each other. Obviously, I was on the losing end. I could feel myself getting giddier and giddier but I somehow found the endurance to push on. I couldn't find the strength to wound him but I managed to defend myself.

His onslaught was ridiculous. It never once waned in strength but it seemed as if he was holding back. He was so ridiculously strong. And then, he wounded me again. His axe, too fast for me to block, struck down into my left shoulder and then he pulled it out.

I hit the ground and shuddered as pain wracked my entire body. I let out a soft whimper before crying out in pain as Aury ran a line over my stomach with his axe.

"Tell me how you want to die." He said it softly and heavily.

"I-" I moved my left foot by accident. Another scream ripped out of my throat. "-just make it quick."

Hatred surged through me. I was submitting so easily to him! But I could find neither the strength nor will to pick up my spear and then murder _him_ instead.

"...dy?"

"W-what?" I hadn't heard the earlier part. I was too busy struggling to get back willpower.

"The head should make it swift," he murmured to himself. The next part chilled me though. "And there'd be less blood..."

Our eyes met. I regarded him as steadily as I could. His lips twisted into a sad smile.

"I missed you."

"Me and Rian missed you too."

I clutched my token- a necklace with half a heart. My brother died with the other half.

"Sleep well."

I closed my eyes.

**General POV**

Janaury stared at the axe in his hands. His gaze shifted to his niece. She was resting peacefully on the ground, hands clutching her necklace. Her cheeks were stained with tears.

"Ah...well...she would have bled to death sooner or later..."

The man trailed off before letting out a weak chuckle. So, he had survived. But what was left for him? He had no idea what would happen to him once he stepped out from the arena but considering he had went against one of the rules Snow set, he had a pretty good guess.

He muttered something to himself before dropping the axe. He picked up Vanessa's spear and after shifting his grip on it several times, positioned its tip straight at his heart. He poked his chest with it several times but not hard enough to pierce his skin. Satisfied that it was correctly positioned, he stabbed himself.

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**A/N: No more family members XD.**


	29. Finality I

**A/N: Once again, I was sleepy when I was typing this. I apologize if Alec is OOC ._.**

**Enjoy! (I actually forgot to put this in)**

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**Weiss' POV**

I sighed and stared at my weapon- a spear. I was, in truth, horrible with any sort of weapon. I preferred traps and poison, those being my forte. I had already set up a series of poisonous traps for my opponent and I knew he would walk straight into it. The spear was only if we ever ended up in close combat. I supposed it was a stretch to hope that Alec would die before he reached me.

I heard heavy footsteps and blood splashing and tensed. He was here. What did Aeris say to me when I visited her?

_"Weiss...kill Alec. Kill him for Delphi."_

I wasn't fond of doing the dirty job for others but Aeris saved me so I figured I owed her at least that much.

"Ow!"

I heard whizzing noises and more surprised cries followed it. My calculations were correct, he stepped right into the trigger. Right after that however, a spear came flying my way and I barely managed to sidestep it. It did end up grazing my right arm though. I cursed.

Alec came into view then (with another spear I might add), and regarded me coolly.

"Wasn't this supposed to be the Feast?" he asked.

"That's right, supposed to be. This is the Feast, but only for viewers." I looked away and scratched my chin thoughtfully. "However it's supposed to work."

"And...?" He was asking what we were supposed to do but I knew that he had already gotten it.

"And we're supposed to fight until one dies," I answered.

"I'm-"

"-not interested?" I interrupted. "Sad to say, whether you want it or not, you have to fight. Anyways, if you kill me and win the Games, you'll be able to return to your family. Or would you rather stay behind and die in repentance for your sister's death? Then, in that case, wouldn't she want you to win anyway?"

Great. I was practically persuading my opponent to come and kill me, what with all this 'think of your dead sibling!' crap. Edel would murder me if she found out. She was on the other side of the forcefield separating us though, and whether she, or me, even came out alive of this was another question.

"Is your sister in here?"

"What?"

"Your twin. That other Gamemaker."

"All of us are," I replied dryly. His face registered surprise. "You'll find out if you win. Well, if you have the chance."

Aeris would live. She would tell him if he asked. But that was if he could even get out of this alive. I saw how the boy's eyes narrowed and how he tensed. A soft sigh slipped from my lips. So this was how it turned out to be in the end.

"I'll let you strike first," I said.

I saw how uncertain he looked at that sudden offer and grinned to myself. To my utter delight, he accepted it.

Metal clashed against metal and created a screeching sound as I dragged my spear downwards. I slipped my hand behind my back and then took out the dart I hid there. In a mere second, I had already plunged the dart into the boy's dominant hand.

"It carries the acidic poison of the bunnies in the arena," I told him. In about two minutes, this battle should be finished.

**Alec's POV**

I winced when I felt the dart stab me. I put some distance between me and Weiss then pulled out the dart and tossed it onto the floor. Immediately after he told me what that dart was, I felt my skin burn. I opened my mouth and then:

"Now, now, don't cry. It's unsightly. And that's odd. Your skin shouldn't be...err...peeling off." Weiss made a face.

My eyes darted down to my skin and to my complete horror, it was peeling off, burning off with bubbling sounds.

"Two minutes." My head snapped up. "Kill me in two minutes and you will live. Go pass that time limit and you will die. The antidote's somewhere on my body."

Odd. Why would he bring the antidote with him? ...unless he was afraid of hurting himself with it?

"Tch!"

I barely managed to bring up my spear to defend against his attack. However, it was clumsy. I analyzed every part of Weiss and decided he didn't have anymore tricks up his sleeve. He also didn't seem to be very apt with the spear either. He deserved credit for hiding it well though. But it still was not good enough.

"I can end this in two minutes," I stated. _Maybe less._

Our spears clashed again. It was endless, the constant meeting and separation. Finally, both of us distanced ourselves and paused to recover. Stupid, yes. But we both sorely needed it. Weiss seemed even worse off than me. He seemed to have...given up.

"Don't tell me you've given up!" I said in between gasps for air.

"I'm barely clinging on," he whispered. He pushed himself up, using his spear as a support. "But Edel...Edel...we promised each other to never leave one another alone. That we would die together."

I grimaced. Truth be told, I could empathise with him. But I was no different. Linay and I...while we didn't promise to die with each other, she was still my sister. I had already decided after her death that I would win it not only for me but for her as well.

"Then I'm sorry."

Weiss looked surprised and then his face contorted into one of shock as he realized what I was doing. I had already raised my hand and my arm was moving forward. I didn't have much time left. It was do or die. I threw the spear.

I couldn't help looking away as the spear pierced his body. It was, admittedly, a horrible way to die. Linay's death was even worse though. That hesitation from Delphinium Agatha was more than enough to tell me so.

My eyes darted back to Weiss. He was now lying in a pool of fresh blood and stale blood. I dashed over to his body and started searching for the antidote. I spotted Weiss' left hand trembling as he pulled out a small vial of liquid. He pressed it against my arm and nodded weakly before closing his eyes.

The arm pressing against mine went limp.

I yanked out the cap covering the vial and poured the liquid into my mouth.

"Argh!"

For a moment, my vision went black. When I opened my eyes, the world seemed to have tilted. I could feel something cold lapping against my skin. My right eye for some reason though, was still closed. I forced it open and saw red. I flew up and pressed one hand to my eye. It was only then that I realized that I was lying submerged in the blood.

Carefully, I brought my injured hand to myself to inspect it. The burning sensation was gone though the area was stained red. That liquid truly was the antidote. I blinked several times and then looked around. Weiss' corpse was still on the ground but I still couldn't see beyond the area I seemed to be enclosed in.

Unsure of what to do, I sat there in the blood, nursing my injured hand while keeping my spear close to me. After what felt like hours (though it was in truth less than an hour though the exact minutes remain unknown), the Cornucopia brightened and I found myself facing another tribute.

I took a quick glance around and let out a gasp. Bodies of the other Gamemakers and tributes littered the floor, all in the individual parts of the Cornucopia. I picked my spear up and stood up. The boy standing opposite me swayed a little on his feet before steadying.

It was time for the final fight.

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**A/N: Annnd, the final showdown! Which will unfortunately star only after two chapters. Feel free to guess who the other boy is. The last two left is Kurt (D12) and Shrike (D5). Guess away~**


	30. Finality II

**A/N: Sorry for not updating on Thursday and Friday. This was originally meant to be a double update, chapter 30 and 31 but I ended up napping for a good part of the day because I'm sick ._. Anyways, this chapter might have a lot of grammar mistakes and typos since I wasn't really too up to it orz.**

**Oh, and some of your characters might make a cameo in my prequel ;)**

**Enjoy!**

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**Edel's POV**

It was a bit dark, and a bit sad, when we were reaped. It was also our birthday. As Weiss would say however, 'a bit dark' and 'a bit sad' were an understatement. Seven years passed since then, and even now, I still could not understand why our parents did what they did. Did they not neglect us? Hate us? So...why would they create such a commotion when we were reaped? It made...zero sense.

I raked my fingers through my ponytail and winced when I pulled a hair out by accident. I held the dark blue strand in front of me, barely visible in the darkness. I blew it and watched it lift. Then I let go of it. Something that was a part of me yet not quite. The Capitol stripped me and Weiss of everything and everyone we knew. It was bit by bit but it crumbled around us.

Soon, we only had each other.

Today was our birthday.

We promised to each other to make it out of this alive.

Even though we had no place to go to, even though we had already been left behind, even though we had already been forgotten, we still had each other.

I touched the bracelet on my right wrist. It was silver with heart charms attached to it. On the biggest one, my name along with Weiss was inscribed on it. It was inscribed as '_Edelweiss_' though. Our names put together formed the mountain flower. I was the older of us and thus given the name Edel.

I stared at my sickle and swung it around a few times. It felt strange in my left hand. I threw it over to my right hand and caught it then flexed my fingers around the handle. It suited my right hand just fine.

I started to unwrap the chain wrapped around my left hand that prevented it from flying too far. It was attached to the back of the handle and it worked well when I had to throw it and pull it back. I could never quite get the sickle to function like a boomerang.

After unwrapping the chains and then wrapping it on my right hand, I took several steps back.

"I'm I supposed to kill you?"

What?! I whirled around only to have something pierce me in the gut. In a panic, I flung out my sickle and felt something splatter against my face.

"Argh!"

I stumbled backwards and spread my legs out to gain a little more stability. There was this burning sensation in my stomach and it felt as if something was eating me from inside out. Inside out...it couldn't be!

_"What're you doing?"_

_"Oh, Edel! I'm just preparing some poison."_

_"Poison? What kind?"_

_"The ones found in the rabbits. You shouldn't let yourself get injured by it you know. It eats away at you, from inside out." Weiss stopped his applying for a moment and then stared down at the table. "There's also a two minute time limit before you die but that really depends on the amount of poison applied and your constitution."_

"It was a bit hard to extract the poison from the blue rabbits, you know," my opponent remarked as he emerged from the darkness. Blood was running down from the wound on his abdomen. "I nearly got myself killed by the hind legs several times." He made a face.

Kurt Tesla, sixteen years old and from District Twelve. He was also a Capitol lover for god knows what reason.

"You're just like Weiss," I muttered as I took out the dart. Though only in the poison department. The rest of them were as different as day and night.

"Your twin." Kurt paused. "Are you sure?"

"Only in one aspect," I replied.

I hurled my sickle at him.

**Kurt's POV**

I threw myself to one side when she hurled her sickle at me. It flew past me then was hauled back again. I climbed to my feet and took out my darts. I couldn't let her get close to me, not when I didn't have anything to defend myself with in close combat. My darts were better suited for long-range.

I narrowed my eyes as we circled each other, both waiting for the moment when the other let their guard down. I was a little surprised actually, that she would actually do a drawn-out battle. It wasn't within my calculations which left me feeling unsettled. She should have tried to kill me as fast as possible and tear me apart for the antidote to the poison but she seemed...calm.

She smirked. I assumed a poker face once more. I absolutely could not allow her to read me. It felt as if...she was analyzing every part of me, all my movements. And then, I saw her falter a little and I struck.

Two darts flew at her and while she managed to deflect one, the other hit her arm. I heard a soft whimper from her. She pulled out the dart and let it fall to the ground.

"You look like you don't know about the time limit," she remarked.

Time limit? I nearly froze but managed to keep myself going. I couldn't let her know I didn't know of any time limit.

"Of course I do."

"Oh really?" she pushed. "Then tell me, how long do I have left to live?"

I swore mentally. Desperate, I grasped for a random timing and blurted it out.

"Two minutes!"

To my surprise, she started. And then before I could even react, her sickle flew out at me and hit me squarely in my chest, lodging itself in it. Blood spilled from my mouth as she yanked it out. I gasped in pain and fell to my knees. For a moment, I became dizzy.

When I looked up, I found her hovering above me. Beads of perspiration was running down her pallid face and she was swaying a little. I grimaced when I saw how corroded her skin was. I knew the poison was effective but it being that effective was a surprise.

"You're...going...to...die," she panted.

"So are you."

She lifted up her sickle and I grabbed my final dart. She brought her sickle down on me just as I threw the dart at her throat. Her weapon cleaved into my left shoulder and she went down like a sack of potatoes. I couldn't find the energy to let out any sort of cry so I simply ended up hitting the blood-covered floor.

I wiped away the blood trickling down my chin. I searched for my poker chip and found it. My hand enclosed around it and I closed my eyes. The best thing to do now was to at least look less bloody and disgusting on national television.


	31. Finality III

**A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long. I was facing severe writer's block and I think I rewrote it like...10 times. Shrike's POV is a fail. The beginning part is a fail. Aviorra's POV is a fail. This chapter is a fail. Kill me now Dx. **

**Enjoy!**

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**Aviorra's POV**

_"Would you like to dance in this land of thorns?"_

Rose thorns and bougainvillea thorns.

Red rose, white rose, and black rose.

Lavender bougainvillea, cherry red bougainvillea, and orange bougainvillea.

Birds, rodents, lizards and crickets all either impaled on the thorns or on the floor.

Blood that covered the floor, a sea of bodies.

"How do you like this? I specially set this up for you, you know." And the voice that spoke. So cheerful and childishly delighted with a hint of false insanity in the speaker's eyes.

"Ivy," the District Five boy spoke.

"It's Avi. This is Avi, not Ivy." She sounded a little hurt and confused. It was as if, she could not tell who she was. And it was marked by her uncertain, "...I guess?"

"This wasn't part of the arena," Shrike said.

"No it wasn't. As Avi said, Avi set it up specially for you. Once you kill Avi, you can be released." That was right. Kill Avi, not Ivy. Kill Avi and set Ivy free. But killing Avi meant killing Ivy as well, right?

"I can't kill you."

"Liar!" Avi cheerfully exclaimed. "You can. This isn't Ivy after all. This is Aviorra, a stranger."

She spread her hands out and gestured to all the thorns and corpses. The thorns brushed against her arms and hands and left shallow cuts.

"This is your arena. Haven't you always wanted this? Impale Avi. Get the first taste of impaling a human. Ah, unless you've already done that? Avi doesn't remember too well."

Set me free.

"Ivy..." he trailed off. Stop calling that girl's name. She was no longer here. His eyes narrowed. "I will."

Relief spread throughout the entirety of me. He will. He will do it. He will save me. And then things could...could...go back to how it was before?

"I don't know anymore," I whispered.

It was so confusing. Would things go back to how it was before? Would Shrike even live? I didn't want to know. I didn't want to know at all! It was better being in the dark sometimes. Ignorance brought a certain kind of peace to it. Like without the knowledge of something, I was safe.

I hated an uncertain future. But the future was always uncertain. Then, I hated an unsafe, uncertain future. My life back in District Five was safe though uncertain. But I liked it safe. Here, in this world of competition, nothing was hundred percent safe and everything was uncertain. Trust too much and get betrayed. Listen too much and get deceived. Everything was a sham, except for the few things that shone brightly to me. Now, only two were bright. One was faraway, out of my reach.

And one was here, mere inches away from me.

My hand reached out and I took a few steps forward. Thorns brushed against my legs and let cuts in them. It hurt a little but they were easily ignored. Finally, I reached _him_.

Our fingers met and then one by one, they interlocked with each other. Ah, it hurt so much and yet at the same time, it gave me so much joy. To be able to touch him again felt like a dream several years ago. And now that I finally could, it was a fight to the death.

Frozen in time and in place, our rising and falling chests matched each other.

A slight tug from Shrike to pull me a little closer to him was all I needed to breakdown. He was here, right in front of me, so real and so...alive.

"S-Shrike," I sobbed out.

"Ivy," he whispered, voice breaking.

We both knew it. We both knew that one of us had to die. It was only one because we had promised each other that if either of us died, the other would live on.

He brought me in closer to him and wrapped his arms around me. I felt something sharp graze across my skin and knew with dreaded certainty that it was his knife. It would be so easy for him to just stab me with it but he didn't.

His arms tightened around me. I lifted my right hand and gripped his left, the one holding the knife.

"Ivy," he whispered.

"It's all right. I can take it."

Confusion, desperation, I who was split into two, torn apart by my actual self and the mask I wore, it all went away with Shrike. They were still there but faint. He soothed me.

"Ivy, no matter who you are, be it Avi or Ivy, you'll always be Ivy to me."

"And you'll always be Shrike."

I supposed I did love him. I just wished...I realized it sooner but maybe this was for the best. Perhaps there was less pain involved.

My grip on his hand tightened and pushed the knife into my back.

**Shrike's POV**

I heard her gasp out in pain as the knife pierced her. I watched her once bright eyes start to dull and I yanked out the knife. Her body fell limp and I caught her. I carried her all the way to a small patch clean of thorns and placed her there.

She was still breathing and was still holding onto my hand though the grip was loose. None of us spoke. I was, in truth, waiting for the forcefields to come down (I had guessed as much that it was the only thing keeping us apart).

Her eyelids fluttered close and her hand fell slack. Somehow though, I knew she wasn't dead. She...couldn't be.

"Goodbye." I took my hand away and stood up.

The forcefields lifted and I surveyed my surroundings. Bodies littered the ground and some of them looked so...incredibly sad. Not like I cared in particular though. I bent down and got my knife and my hand brushed against the other knife I managed to hitch in my belt. Across me, I saw the boy from District Six.

He looked grim and I allowed a small smile.

The finale.

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**A/N: I slaughtered Shrike's character T_T. Also, the prologue of _Nightmare_ has been published. Check it out!**


	32. Victor

**A/N: And the finale is like...super short. I really ran out of fuel for this one. T_T. There will be an epilogue and it will most likely be _long_. The epilogue will also be up in December.**

**Enjoy!**

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"Hit the switch."

**Alec's POV**

It was so blindingly bright. The minute after I identified Shrike, light flooded the entire area.

I covered my eyes with my free hand and squinted. I could see absolutely nothing. There was just...white. I still had to fight though. I closed my eyes. It was silence. Then, I heard a splash coming from the left. And another, and another, and another.

I swung my spear around and it sliced through air. Then, I felt something jab into me and I let out a gasp. I swore mentally and blindly ran away, my other hand fumbling to staunch the blood. I stopped when I decided I had run a good distance away and tensed up. Shrike Lanius. He was from District Five but I didn't think he would have an edge over me. I honestly doubted that his district faced this kind of problems unless there were flash grenades being set off every other day.

Splash!

There! I stabbed my spear in the direction of the splash and heard a yell. Immediately, I ran from my spot but still felt something graze across the back of my arm. This was hard. Not only did I have to pay attention to my surroundings but I also had to keep moving to avoid being hit once I struck. And I was rendered completely blind as well.

My heart was hammering and I was incredibly tense. This was do or die. I had to keep calm though. I need my wits about me or I would die. Gripping my spear tightly, I took one step and bumped into something...or someone, rather.

Our reactions were instantaneous. Metal scraped against metal and I cringed at the squeal it created. This was it. This was my opportunity to strike and end it once and for all.

**Shrike's POV**

He was using a spear and I was using knives. There was already an obvious difference between us and this made it even worse. I gritted my teeth and the two of us launched into some sort of wild blind dance.

A hit there, a hit here, a hit in front and a hit behind. Two struck air and two struck Alec. I wasn't sure where they hit, though the sharp intake of air told me it was at least painful. It was a little ironic that this much light created darkness but that was the entire point.

There was a whizzing sound to my left and I barely managed to jerk myself backwards. I fell onto the floor and winced at the jolt of pain. I swung my lower torso out of the way in hopes that the spear would aim there instead of my upper. There was a solid thud sounding too close for my comfort. I jumped up...and hit the ground again.

I thought I heard something break when I landed on the ground and when I tried to push myself up, I realized with utmost horror that my dominant arm, my left arm, was broken.

Shit.

I shifted my grip and pushed myself up with my other hand. And then, suddenly, the glare on my shut eyes disappeared. It was followed by the scent of rain and before I knew it, rain was pelting against me.

My eyes opened and it adjusted to the sudden darkness in a few short moments. I was only dimly aware that the top of the arena had opened up. Alec and I were facing each other.

And the tip of his spear was resting on my chest.

My eyes widened. No! This was not how it was supposed to end! I heard him murmur something vaguely like an apology.

Then, my world exploded in pain.

**Alec's POV**

My spearhead slid out of Shrike's chest. I watched his body collapse onto the floor...and heard the final cannon go off.

I had won, yet I did not feel like a winner. Too many people had died for me to come this far. Too many people had lost their lives for me to emerge as winner. I was not entirely blameless though. I had killed with my own hands. I had killed to survive.

Was this what the Hunger Games made us into? It brought out the primal instincts in the tributes. It drove us to the very edge of madness. It made us animals. And then those who still have some humanity in them are killed. No...not that.

Survival of the fittest. That, is in essence, the Hunger Games.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Victor of the 56th Hunger Games, Alec Scott of District Six!"

Twenty four tributes who go in and only one emerges as Victor. A ruthless and cruel cycle that has repeated for fifty-six years. And this year, I take the coveted spot of Victor.

All I want is Linay alive though.

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**A/N: *Is sobbing in a corner*. I really get the feeling of hopelessness for some reason, the overall feel of the Hunger Games. =x. **

**Update for Nightmare~ I will be starting the first reaping soon and hopefully it will be up before I fly off on 18 Nov. Those who has reserves for tributes, can you pass them to me as soon as possible? Much appreciated. I also finished the cover for it. Do tell me your thoughts!**

**Also, I've been accepted into a collaboration by the name of Fourteen! It hasn't been published yet but do keep an eye out for it :3. I'm writing for the District 5 male, Ryan Jenkins.**


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